This is the Story of Mary Black
by findingmymuse
Summary: "That's how these things work, right? I just ramble on and you listen patiently even though you don't really care...but this is my story, and I think it's one that needs telling." Jacob and Nessie's daughter has a lot to figure out about life.
1. Facts Are Important

**Disclaimer: I am not, nor will I ever be, Stephanie. I wish, oh so badly, that I owned her characters, but I don't. Sad day for me :/**

**Remember, reviews are greatly appreciated and I try not to write author's notes, so when I do, they're usually important :D I hope you guys enjoy this story because I sure had fun coming up with it. **

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><p>This is the story of a very special girl. That sounds conceited. And maybe it is, but this is the only way that I know how to tell my story. To understand what I'm going through, you must first understand how I got to where I am. And that starts with me being special.<p>

I had always been told that I was "special" and I guess that most kids would kill to be the very center of their parents' lives, especially if they were as rich and beautiful as we were. But being special isn't always what it's cracked up to be.

When I was seven physically, Dad started to notice the changes. It was little comments like: "Oh, Mary, you're too special to play with the other kids, do you want to go hunting with Momma instead?" and "It isn't safe for you, Mary. You're too special to be around your friends anymore. Maybe in a few years..." The worst one, though, was a few months later: "Mary, our special little girl, why are you crying? We're only moving away to keep you safe."

Yeah, being special sucks.

This is my story and I guess I should start with the facts. That's how these things work, right? I just ramble on and you listen patiently even though you don't really care...but this is my story, and I think it's one that needs telling. Hopefully, by the end of this, you'll agree that it was one worth telling too.

Fact Number One: My name is Mary Elizabeth Black. I was named Mary after my grandmother Bella's middle name, Marie, and Elizabeth from my grandfather Edward's mother, Elizabeth Mason. My parents felt that since I was their only chance, they would pay back my grandparents with the honor of carrying on their names. My family has done that a lot, actually. My mother has borrowed names too.

Fact Number Two: I am thirteen years old. Thirteen human years and thirteen years old physically. I tell you the distinction because, if you lived in my world, you would know that those are two very different things.

Fact Number Three: I have the best mother in the entire world. She's special too, maybe even more so than I am. My mother was six and a half when she became pregnant with me. That last sentence might look strange, but in my world, it's not. My mother is half-vampire, born from a dying human girl and a never-dying vampire, aka my grandparents: Bella and Edward. It's not weird that she was six and a half because it was measured in human years. She was, and still is, physically nineteen. Her maiden name was Renesmee Carlie Cullen, but for the last fourteen years, she has been just Nessie Black. And she fought to keep me alive while I was in the womb much like her mother did for her.

Fact Number Four: Jacob Ephraim Black is my father. He is a werewolf and a very powerful one at that. He's the Alpha of a dwindling group of wolves that guard the Quiellite tribe in La Push, Washington, just outside of the town called Forks. That's where my parents met and my mother's parents before that. Forks is kind of a big deal for our family...not that I've ever been.

Fact Number Five: I was never supposed to be born. That fact hurts, but it's probably the most defining moment in everyone's lives around me. It's not that I wasn't wanted. Oh, no, my parents were overjoyed to find out that they were pregnant with me. It was just that I was never supposed to be alive in the first place. That's where the "special" part kicks in again.

Fact Number Six: My father loves my mother more than he'll ever be able to love me. That's not me being a whiny preteen or me making an exaggeration. She's his imprint. And in a world full of mythical creatures like mine is, that's a huge deal. Basically, anything my mother wants, she gets. And that included me. My father, though he loved the idea of getting to be a father, loved my mother more. He wanted to terminate me when Grandpa Carlisle started to notice that I was going to be "special" and that the pregnancy might kill Nessie. Her safety was all that mattered to him...but I was all that she wanted in the world.

Fact Number Seven: I almost killed my mother. She carried me for seven months, a whole month longer than she should have, but two less than I really needed. The problem was, I wasn't vampire enough to fight my way out like she had to do to her human mother...and my mother was too vampire (by the time she became fully grown and hit her peak at seven human years old) to carry me any longer. The changes a pregnant woman needed to go through to take a baby to full term just couldn't be done in my mother's forever non-changing body. My doctor relatives had to sergically fight for both of our lives and to say it was touch and go would be an understatement.

Fact Number Eight: I'm special. I should probably explain what that means, now that you know everything else about me. When I was born, two months premature and fighting for my life, Aunt Alice noticed something strange about me.

"It's almost as if she's not even there..." She whispered in a scared voice. Alice can read the future, so when she can't see your future, you know that you can't possibly be all human. My father (a werewolf) is invisible to her visions and my mother (a half-vampire) is partially visible, depending on who she's hanging out with. That meant that I had to have one of their genes.

The only problem, was finding out just what I was. There was no one in the entire world that had my geneology, considering how much wolves and vampires hated each other. It wasn't until I was seven, the age that my mother was fully mature, that my father noticed just how special I was.

So far, I've mangaged to continue aging at a regular basis, and maybe I'll always be normal except for the very random phasings, but since all I've ever wanted was to be normal, I don't see that as a bad thing. I don't have my perfect soul mate that will live forever like the rest of my family does, so what does it matter if I'm still aging? Momma worries about me growing older than her and dying and leaving her, but I know that she'll be fine as long as she has Daddy.

That leads me to Fact Number Nine: I'm a phasing vampire. That sounds weird. Maybe I'm saying it wrong. I don't know. I've never really come up with a term for it, since I've only been doing it since I reached my "peak" six years ago. All I know is, when I get really angry and lose my temper, I phase (like a wolf would) but instead of fur and a snout, I develop vampire senses and bloodlust. I can literally change back to a normal human girl whenever I calm down, but while I'm phased, I'm _dangerous with a capital D_. More dangerous than a full vampire. I basically become a Newborn every single time that I transform. Which sucks. A lot.

We were living in Portland the first time that I phased. After my mother was four, the Cullen family moved to a small town just outside of Seattle so that they would still be close to La Push for my father, who at the time was just Nessie's best friend. When they found out that Nessie was pregnant with me, the Cullen family relocated to Portland where I grew up for the first seven years of my life. I got to go to normal school with normal kids because, at the time, I was just a normal kid myself.

After I phased, though, Jacob pulled me out of public school and instructed the Cullens to become my teachers like they had to be for Nessie because of her rapid growth spurts. We moved to another unimportant town near West Tiger Mountain when that happened and I lost the only friends I had ever known. For the past six years, I have been homeschooled in the woods. But now, I am finally trusted enough with my gift (according to my parents; it's a curse to me) to attend regular school.

Fact Number Ten: My family, my immediate family, that is, is moving back to La Push because Sam finally managed to stop phasing. Sam is the other Alpha wolf that took over the Pack when Jacob had to follow wherever my mother went. Dad has been neglecting his Pack responsibilities for too long and it gives me the perfect excuse to go back to school. I'll be attending the tribal school with other children of the Pack.

My aunts and uncles and grandparents aren't allowed on La Push soil, even though the treaty is no longer really an issue, so that means that I'll only get to see them on weekends when we visit them individually. They all split off into couples when they got news that Nessie, Jacob, and I were going to be leaving the family for a while. I guess when you change someone's lives completely, the way that Nessie did when she was born, that it can never just go back to the way it was when you leave.

I'd like to think that my birth had as big of an effect on them, but I can't really be sure. It's a lot to take in, especially for someone who doesn't know me personally. But I think that I've given you enough to deal with for now. I'll let it sink in, the way that any good story should. For now, I've given you enough of my life for you to know what it is to be me.


	2. Role Call

"Gregory Abbot?"

"Here." A dark skinned, dark haired boy with dark brown eyes said from the back row lazily.

Though I was excited to be a freshmen, I could tell that this boy wasn't impressed in the slightest that we were at La Push High School and not the middle school where he, and everyone in this room besides me, had formerly attended classes. The high school combined all of the students who were old enough to still be in school and didn't separate classes based on ages like a normal high school would since there were hardly and children on the Reservation to begin with. I guessed Gregory to be about fifteen, making him a sophomore.

"Gretchen Abbot?"

"Present." A similarly featured girl said from the front row. Her long hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her eyes sparkled with excitement for the first day of school. She looked younger, maybe my age, and I tried to remember what Dad had told me about the kids on the Reservation. I know that she and Greg were siblings and children of John Abbot, a former wolf, but nothing else was coming to my mind.

"Mary Black?"

My response was stuck in my throat. I couldn't believe that I was actually at a normal school after so long. The air felt tighter here, somehow, though and I licked my lips to try and get a quiet 'here' out. I wasn't very sucessful, though.

"Mary Black?"

Again, I tried to say that I was here, but even though I was on the front row near Gretchen, my voice wasn't carrying very far.

"Is there a Mary Black in this class?" The teacher said, a smirk on his lips, his eyes locking onto mine.

Of course everyone knew who I was the second I walked through the doors; I'm the only slightly pale person in this entire school. Though I look more like my father's side, I still have paler than russett skin and have a faint sparkle like my mother does.

"I'm here." I said, with more force than I intended. It seems like all of my earlier attempts were added together in this one response.

"Ah, so she does exist." The teacher said with a huge grin.

"She shouldn't exist." A low voice from the back nearly growled and I had to force myself to turn around to see who verbally attacked me.

My eyes locked onto the hoodlum and my chest sunk. It was Sammy Uley.

Dad warned me about all of the current phasing wolves last night. He had patrolled with most of them over the weekend in an attempt to get to know them better since he was going to be taking over as Alpha for Sam in a few days. Not all of them were excited to learn that my parents and I were moving back here since Momma and I were considered a threat to a lot of the younger wolves who didn't know about the imprint bond between my parents.

Of the original wolves, only the non-imprinted wolves still phase regularly. Leah and her brother Seth Clearwater and, coincidentally, my teacher Embry Call.

Leah tried giving it up so she could see if she could get pregnant, but the human guys she slept with couldn't do the job so she gave up. I sometimes hear my parents talking about her chances if she would just give in to Embry, but even after all of these years apparently she won't give her heart to a wolf especially one who hasn't imprinted.

Seth hates being in their heads together since they're obviously drawn to each other, but after he finished college, he had no where else to go but back to La Push and the Pack. If he was honest, he'd admit that he missed the thrill of hunting vampires more than he liked being a painter.

The imprinted wolves all quit in the last five years as their children started phasing and their wives grew steadily older. Paul quit for Aunt Rachel when she got pregnant with my cousin Robin and Quil stopped phasing when Claire became of age so they could be equals in everything. John Abbot phases every now and then to check on his kids. Jared and Kim moved off the reservation completely so he could stop phasing, but were back now. Sam was the only one who managed to hold on for as long as he did.

Sammy Uley was the angriest about our coming back. At sixteen, he's the oldest of the new generation of phasing wolves. His little crunnies in the back are his little followers. He assumed that he could take over since he's rightfully the next in line, minus Jacob Black of course.

Gregory Abbot smirked when he saw that Sammy did, and so did Tanner Uley, fourteen years old. The only wolf who hesitated to send me a dirty look was my cousin Peter. He was a year older than I was, but the look in his eyes showed me that he was just a follower like the rest of them.

When he whispered, "you never should have come here," in a trembling voice, Cousin Robin smacked him on the back of the head. She was nearly eighteen, the oldest of this new generation, and looked like she wanted to kill her brother. She sent me a sympathetic look when he started cowering away from her.

Robin and I had always gotten along just fine. I'm not sure if it's because she never phased or because she let herself make her own judgements about me (everyone in town knows exactly what my family is), but either way I don't care. I need an ally here, especially now that I know that Sammy has it out for me.

I turned back around, trying to ignore the stinging in my eyes when that thought sunk in. I had already made an enemy just because of what I was.

Embry looked like he wanted to say something to the boys in the back, but with a tiny head-shake, I managed to get him to go back to calling roll.

"Jared Dunlap Junior?"

"Here." A just barely thirteen year old kid said from the middle row. He had Kim's eyes, but Jared's scowl.

"Diana Dunlap?"

"Right here, Mr. Call." Just as young, yet twice as enthusiastic, the girl next to Gretchen spoke up. I'm glad she got Kim's smile and warmth.

"Peter Greene?"

"Here..." I could tell without looking that Mr. Call was giving him a glare for going along with the other guys.

"Robin Greene?"

"Present." I loved the sweetness in my cousin's voice. It reminded me that the entire world wasn't full of hate.

"Samuel Uley?"

"Here." He said without skipping a beat. That cocky little jerk.

"Tanner Uley?"

"Here." His reply was quieter than his brother's, yet just as hateful.

I burried my head, counting the names over and over again. I had four enemies on my first day of school and who knows about the non-phasing children. I was starting to wish that I had never talked Momma and Daddy into letting me go to school here.


	3. Girl Talk

"Don't let those guys scare you." A voice said from behind me and I turned to look at the familiar face, letting out a sigh of relief that it wasn't her brother.

"I'm not scared." I said, trying to sound braver than I was. Truth was, I was already regretting going to school here. I didn't belong on the Reservation. Who was I trying to kid by forcing myself to stay here? Only myself, apparently; everyone else already knew the truth.

"Sure you're not." Cousin Robin said, rolling her eyes. She set her lunch tray down next to my nearly empty one. "Not hungry either, are ya?" She jabbed, trying to make a joke out of it.

I knew what she was asking and it made my cheeks redden. But I didn't eat like the rest of my family, so she didn't need to be concerned. I didn't need blood to survive like my vampire side and I didn't need to go through thousands of calaries a day like my werewolf side. I simply ate when I wanted to, like any normal human would.

Only, no one really ever believed that. Robin, for example, thinks that I probably hunted with my mother this morning and that's why I'm not hungry now.

"I'm not." I said, my face still flushed. "Don't you ever just not feel like eating when you've had a nervous day?" I asked when her eyes still looked skeptical.

Robin nodded, finally understanding what I meant. "Sorry about that." She said, her brown eyes as apologetic as her words.

"'s okay." I said, trying to hide my burning cheeks behind a strand of my long black curly ringlets. I cursed my Grandmother Bella for being such a blushing human. Even though she had been turned for over twenty years, it was still a curse that was passed down to both my mother and, even more so, to me.

Robin looked like she wanted to say more, but right then, some of the other girls in class walked up.

"Mind if we sit with you?" Gretchen Abbot asked, her overachieving eyes seeking our permission.

"No probs, Gretch." Robin said with a big smile.

Gretchen frowned. "I might be a freshman, but I seem to recall that when we were in Middle together, you knew not to call me that."

"Sure, sure." Robin said, a teasing grin on her face. "What about you, Diana? You wanna sit here too?"

Kim's timid smile greeted us and I knew that Diana would be an ally for me here. Her mother had such a gentle heart and from the look on her face now, I could tell that Diana had inherited it as well.

Once we were all settled with our lunches, Robin spoke up. "It sure is nice to have some female company here."

It was hard to believe that Robin had had to go to school here by herself for four years without another girl. As the oldest kid on the Rez, she had to do a lot of things first, but that might have sucked the most. Four boys and only her? I don't know how she did it. Luckily, Gretchen, Diana, and I were all freshmen this year or else my cousin would have had to graduate without having a single female friend in school with her.

"How did you manage that?" I asked, taking a small bite of my peanut butter and banana sandwhich.

"By keeping the boys on their toes." Robin said with a wink. "Always stay a step ahead of them, that's the rule if you want to be treated fairly amongst a bunch of sexist guys."

"That really works?" Gretchen asked. She glanced over her shoulder to where her brother Greg was wrestling with Tanner Uley.

"Positive." Robin replied, taking a huge swig from her lemonade.

"So...what's it like, you know...?" Diana asked, her voice a faint whisper in the breeze.

My already pale face paled even more. "Being special has its advantages and disadvantages." I said politically, keeping my words as nuetral as I could. "I'm basically a normal girl who sometimes phases into a vampire if I lose my temper quickly."

Diana's eyes widened and even Gretchen looked a little startled.

"I-I just meant what's it like to live outside of the Rez?" Diana asked, her eyes still slightly larger than normal.

"Oh." I said, my cheeks reddening for probably the hundredth time that day. For the second time that day, I cursed my grandmother for passing on the insane blushing gene to my mother. I tucked the piece of hair behind my ear and cleared my throat.

"It's different, that's for sure." I said, trying to see what should be an acceptable answer. "My home before this was pretty much the same: lots of woods and a small population of people nearby. Made it easy for Dad to phase and for the rest of my family to hunt. There was a lot of game there, too."

"Didn't you live in Port Angeles for awhile?" Robin asked, trying to steer me in the right direction since talking about my vampire side seemed to freak the younger girls out. I needed to remember that. Though everyone knew exactly what I was, the girls seemed to want to ignore it completely so that they wouldn't be afraid to be my friends...and I needed friends.

"It was so beautiful there, too." I said. "Lots of streets full of bustling people."

"I wish I could live somewhere else." Diana said with a wistful look on her face.

"Yeah, anywhere beats this dump." Gretchen readily agreed. "I can't see why you would _want_ to live here." She gave me a 'the girl must be out of her mind' look that I usually got whenever I was talking about being special.

I shrugged. "This might not have been where I grew up...but it's my home, you know? My parents fell in love here...and my mother was accepted because of her imprint status...I guess, I don't know, I kind of had always wished that that would happen to me."

I tried not to acknowledge that my cheeks were dark red with embarrassment right now. I had never confessed to even my favorite uncle that that was the main reason I wanted to try so hard to live in La Push. And I told Jasper everything. But, as stupid as it sounded, I wanted the fairytale love that everyone else in my family got to have. Vampires, once they are set in their ways, are mated for life and evenge the other's death with everything that they have in them. And nothing compares to an imprinted wolf's love for his girl.

"Awww, that's so romantic!" Gretchen squealed, her dark brown eyes sparkling. "Though, I doubt you'll find Mr. Right here." She let out a giggle with Diana. "There's only Mr. Imperious, Mr. Headstrong, and Mr. Too-good-for-anything."

"Ha! You sould like you're discribing Sammy." Diana said between giggles.

"Maybe I am," Gretchen said, dropping her voice as to not be heard over the wind, "and maybe I'm not."

Diana looked at me. "Gretchen has had a crush on Sammy Uley since we were all in Middle together."

Gretchen shrugged. "What can I say, the boy is beautiful. If it weren't for his personality, he'd be a great husband."

"And if he wasn't sixteen." Diana said with a little awe in her voice. She was the youngest of us, barely scraping at thirteen, whereas I was nearly fourteen and Gretchen was about the same as me if not older.

"Pish, posh." Gretchen said with a roll of her eyes. "Age has nothing to do with it. He's waiting for his 'soul mate.'" She put air quotes around the words.

"You don't believe in soul mates?" I asked, not ready to believe such a thing was an option. In my life, everyone I knew was forever interwoven in their mate's life. Anything else sounded like a lie.

"Of course not." Gretchen said with a small sigh. "I mean, my parents weren't an imprint couple and they've managed to do alright. I don't think that it's in my blood to have an imprint and I don't think that there's any other kind of true love out there."

"None at all?" Diana asked.

"Maybe not everyone is meant to be with the perfect person for them." Gretchen said, shrugging.

I nodded. "Yeah, I think that I'm too much of a freak to have a soul mate sometimes." I meant to say that in my head. Crap. I dropped my gaze to stare at my tray on the table instead of three sets of sorrowful, knowing eyes.

"I'm sure there's someone really special waiting for you." Robin said, nudging my shoulder lightly when I refused to acknowledge what she said. I didn't believe her words and she knew it.

"Sure sure." I said lightly.


	4. Family Affairs

**AN: Sooooo sorry for the late update. But AP Calculus and AP English are kicking my butt right now! ****Three weeks from graduation, guys, so don't expect too awful much until after that point. When I'm on summer break, I plan to update every other day, if not every day, so bare with me. **

**Thanks, as always, for the reviews :)**

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><p>"Wow, I can't believe how big you've gotten!" Aunt Rachel gushed, pulling me in for a hug.<p>

"Thanks, Aunt Rach." I said, confused as to why she was making such a big deal out of it. I grew at a normal human rate. Did all humans feel this way when a relative hadn't seen them in a few weeks?

"Come here, kiddo." Uncle Paul said, extending his arms out for me for a hug of his own.

I loved my Uncle Paul the most of my non-vampire family. Though he used to be a hothead, according to Dad at least, I had never seen Uncle Paul angry at anyone. He stopped phasing ten or so years ago, so he could no longer pass as Dad's little brother. Now, he looked like he was the older one. All Pack members look like siblings, and even though Aunt Rachel really was my dad's sister, Paul favored him more.

"Dont call me 'kiddo' and maybe I will." I teased, sticking my tongue out at him from behind the safety of Aunt Rachel's back.

Paul let out a barking laugh. "Jake, what are you teaching this kid of yours?"

Dad smiled warmly. "How to handle herself."

Rachel released me from our hug and went to stand on the other side of the room. I bet she thought that her brother and husband were going to start wrestling like they usually did whenever we visited them.

Paul grinned cockily. "Is that so?" He looked at me with a wink. "Bet you fight like a girl...just like your old man."

"I bet she could take you, Paul." Mom taunted, trying to get him to rise to the bait. Uncle Paul, though now no longer phasing, liked to keep himself in shape should he ever be needed to protect his family. He was almost as bad as Uncle Emmett when it came to wanting to spar all of the time...and Mom knew it.

"A little girl like that?" Paul said, his eyes twinkling. "What are you now, thirteen?"

I nodded, smirking at him. "Nearly fourteen now, Paulie." I used the old nickname that Dad always said he hated.

And it worked. "Ha, so that's how it's going to be." And then he lunged forward.

I barely had any time to react before my instincts took over. I dodged him with a move to the left, careful to never let my back be to him. I threw in a round-about kick that he nearly dodged; my foot making a small contact with the top of his shoulder. He threw a careful punch to my own shoulder in retaliation...only, my skin is just a smidge tougher than a normal human's should be and it ended up wounding his hand instead of me.

"Had enough yet, Paulie?" I teased, a smile dancing on my lips as he cradled his hand.

"Oh, I'm just getting warmed up." Uncle Paul said, grinning back.

"Go easy on him, Mary, will you?" Rachel asked and I nearly lost my focus because of my giggling.

"Ahhh! I got you!" Uncle Paul exclaimed, wrapping his arms around me in a loose choke-hold.

Now the whole room joined me in my laughing. "Fine, fine. I give up."

"About time." Uncle Paul said with a wide grin. "Now, where's that hug you owe me?"

I turned around and wrapped my arms around him. He lost a good portion of his muscle weight when he permanantly stopped phasing, but he was still a decent size to where my arms barely fit around him.

"What's all the fuss abou-" My youngest cousin Sara asked, coming into the room and frowning when she saw me in her father's arms, her dark brown eyes burning into the side of my face. "Oh, it's just you."

Now, I'm not entirely sure why Sara doesn't like me, but I have a feeling it started three years ago. I was ten and a half, Sara's age now, and she was seven. I came to visit the Greene's because Dad wanted to do a test run of how I would fair around humans after three years of being homeschooled so I could learn to control my phasings. Anyways, the trip started out fine and all three of my cousins were sociable: this was before Peter started phasing himself and learned that it wasn't cool to acknowledge our relation.

Sara and I were playing with Peter since we were all close enough to the same age, when Sara started crying. She claims I stole her Barbie doll, but the one in my hand I had brought from home. I _know_ I did. It was my Beach Wear Barbie with the matching two piece bathing suit. I ended up feeling badly for her and just gave it to her so she'd shut up and bought a new one when I got back home. But, to this day, whenever my family visits, Sara steers clear of me.

It's ironic; Peter is afraid that I'll attack him and Sara is afraid I'll steal her dolls. At least Robin is sane or else I'd think that all of my cousins hated me.

"Don't be like that, Sara Elizabeth." Aunt Rachel warned, her tone low.

"Like what?" Sara asked, pretending to be innocent.

"Peter, Robin!" Dad called, changing the subject, while Mom pulled out the bag of gifts that we brought with us for my cousins. "Your favorite uncle is here!"

Peter bounded into the room, his expression eagar like a puppy's...which I guess he was. His eyes landed first on his Alpha and then on the neatly wrapped gifts in silver paper. Robin wasn't far behind him, her eyes searching out mine, then Momma's, and finally Dad's before looking at the presents. Sara's remained glued to the bag the whole time.

"You're our only uncle." Robin teased, her face looking so much younger than when she was at school with me mere hours earlier. Here, she could be relaxed and not have to put on such a front about being the oldest Pack child and the responsibility that goes with it.

"What about Rebecca's husban-?" Dad asked, but Aunt Rachel only sighed.

"I knew they weren't going to last. I told Becks not to marry a surfer in the first place...but you know Becks." Rachel said with a half-hearted laugh.

"When did this happen? Last time we spoke, you didn't even mention it." Dad asked, his voice sounding hurt.

"She made me promise that I wouldn't tell you or dad until things were finalized. She was afraid that you might come after her in Hawaii and talk her into returning home now that she had no reason to stay." Rachel said, her eyes telling a whole other story.

"What really happened?" Dad asked, his commanding tone sending Paul, Peter, and me into slouched positions.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "That scumbag cheated on her a few years ago and when some woman showed up with a six year old that looked just like him, well, Becks didn't take too kindly to that. She knew that you would want to hunt him down, no pun intended, so she hid it from you. She's a big girl, Jake. She's been handling herself quite well for the last year since her divorce."

"Poor Rebecca." Momma said, her eyes misty. Though my mother had only met Aunt Rebecca once, at my parents' wedding, she had instantly liked her...and reminded me that I favored her slightly every chance she got. I wasn't sure how that was possible since Rachel and Rebecca were twins and Mom never said that I took after Aunt Rach, but whatever.

"Are those presents for us?" Sara asked, finally too bored with the subject to pretend to be paying attention to it anymore. Sara was, by far, the most selfish of the three cousins. She had always been a "taker," which is probably why she claimed that I stole my own doll just so that she could have it.

"Of course they are!" Mom said happily, noticing that the mood needed some lifting. "Here, this one is yours." She took the smallest package and handed it to Sara, then gave the other two theirs.

For Sara, I decided to get her a make-up kit. The Dollar General kind that all girls around that age have when they decide they want to be Big Girls like their sisters or mothers. I know I did. Sara beamed when she ripped open the paper and saw what it was, then immediately looked at her mother for approval. Aunt Rachel nodded and Sara let out a squeal.

For Peter, Dad decided to get him five pairs of black sweat pants, a custom made string-tie for phasing, and a $50 gift card to the local diner: every wolf's dream package. He grinned at the first two, but his eyes really lit up when he saw the gift card and then he started talking to Uncle Paul about the best way to order a steak from Tastee-Yum.

For Robin, Mom decided that she needed a laptop. We called my uncle and aunt before we made the purchase, though, in case they thought it was too much. At first, they argued, but when it came down to it, they knew that Robin would need one for college in the fall and that they just didn't have the cash to get her the quality one that my parents could afford to give her. It took a big man for my uncle to admit that, but the look of pure joy on Robin's face when she opened her gift made it all worth it, I think.

"You really know how to win their hearts." Rachel teased, shoving her brother lightly.

"Well, they don't call me the Alpha for nothing." Dad teased back.


	5. It's a Matter of Age

**AN: I'm graduated :D And going to work on posting chapters a lot more frequently, so please review! **

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><p>Later that night, as we were preparing an unneeded feast for my grandparents, Mom asked about how my day had gone.<p>

"It was fine, Momma." I said, hoping she wouldn't pry. School had been irritating, what with the stupid phasing boys's attitudes, and I just didn't want to go into it if I could help it.

"Did you make any friends at school?" Mom asked, and I could tell by the tone in her voice that she was afraid I had been bullied.

"The girls were all really nice." I said, answering honestly but incompletely. I think Dad could sense my slanted-truth because he tried a different approach.

"Well, my sister was glad to see you...especially when you nearly beat up her grown up husband." He said, grinning when I let out a timid laugh.

"I would have never hurt him." I said, relieved that the topic seemed to be changing. I could talk about family. Friends (or the lack there of)? Not so much.

"I know, sweetie." Dad said, his chest puffing out in pride as he gave me a wink. "But you _could_ have and that's all that matters."

"Aren't you glad that Paul agreed to let us buy Robin a laptop?" Nessie asked. Though she was talking to Dad, she was looking at me when she asked the question. She knew that I wouldn't be able to resist talking about Robin. I think I had been more excited about giving my favorite cousin that laptop than she had been to recieve it. And that was saying something because she was over the moon about it.

"I know that she loves it." I replied as Jacob nodded. "Makes any quarms that Uncle Paul have seem childish, don't you think?" I teased, popping a grape from the fruit salad into my mouth.

Mom slapped my wrist lightly, barely a feather touch, and grinned at me. "That's for dinner, young lady, and you know it."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't know why we have to wait. We're the only ones that are going to be eating anyways."

Dad bellowed a laugh that only a werewolf could get away with. "She does have a point, honey."

Mom looked nervous as she tried to avoid eye contact. For whatever reason, it always made her uncomfortable when we mentioned that her parents' eating habbits weren't like ours. Though she had grown up around full vampires, it was difficult for her to acknowledge that we weren't all the same. In her mind, family was family: wolf, vampire, or otherwise. I didn't see why it mattered either way, but Mom had always had a problem with our unique factors. I think secretly she wished she were fully vampire or a wolf like Daddy, though she'd never admit it out loud. I know the feeling sometimes. Being "special" sucked.

I know how much easier it would have been if Mom had been even fully human. She would have been fully accepted as the Alpha's imprint, not run off for fear of younger wolves phasing around her, and then I wouldn't be how I am either. But, I know that deep down, Mom wouldn't trade her life for anything and I should be grateful for the life I have too. As far as we know, which is little to nothing since I'm the first of my kind, I will live forever with my parents too. I can't even bare to think about what our lives would be like if Momma had been fully human, now that I've let my mind wander. Would Daddy give up his wolf for her? Would I even know about his wolf abilities? Would I have been able to make friends on the Rez easier? Woul-

"You know we're only teasing." Dad said, his grin slipping from his face as soon as he noticed the little twitch in Mom's facial expression. He was so attuned to her that even a moment's notice could change his mood to match hers. It was the imprint magic that had always facinated me as a child and why I had fought so hard to relocate here.

"I know..." Mom said quietly into his chest. He had wrapped his arms around her waist without me even noticing the transition; that's how crazy in-sync they were all of the time.

"Don't fret, sweetheart." Grandpa Edward's smooth voice said from the other room as he strode hand-in-hand into the kitchen with Grandma Bella. "We don't mind that Mary stole a little snack." He shot me a wink and I smiled. Thank you, mind reader for lightening the mood.

"I've missed you, Daddy." Mom said. Dad instantly released her from their embrace so that his imprint could hug her parents. "You, too, Momma."

Dad went over and hugged Bella as well, and gave Edward one of those whimpy "bro" hugs that looked more gay than an actual hug would have.

It was strange to watch my parents with my grandparents. Though we were all immortal (or in my case, we _hoped_ I was immortal), it was always a little trippy to see the four of them together. Dad, who was thirty-eight, looked twenty-five. Mom, the youngest of the group at age twenty-one, looked a few years older than her physical age. Bella was a young grandma at forty, but even younger since she looked nineteen. Edward, who was the oldest at age one hundred and thirty-three, looked the youngest. Seventeen was such an awful age to be stuck at forever.

Their ages, real or physical, had never bothered me much until I had started to grow up as well. Being nearly fourteen, I was almost as old looking as my grandfather. I was not looking forward to the day that I passed up my own parents. I hoped that I would stop aging at some point so that I'd never have to age past them, but since I was the first of my kind, I had no idea what would happen. I was a phasing vampire, for crying out loud!

"Aren't you going to give your _young_ grandparents a hug?" Edward teased, sensing my thoughts.

I blushed scarlet, moving over towards them sheepishly. I hated sometimes that someone could be in my head. Privacy was never really a big deal to me, but it embarrassed the crap out of me in times like this.

Bella touched my blushing cheeks with a sad smile gracing her face. "I can't say that I miss blushing like you," she said sadly, "but I do miss that I haven't been around to see yours as often as I'd like. Reminds me of the good 'ole days."

"We've only been in La Push for a few weeks, Bella." I said, trying to cheer her up, but failing when I noticed her frowning again. She had always been so easy to read. I knew that me not calling her grandma anymore was upsetting to her. It was just too strange now that I was getting close to their ages. I figured it wouldn't be long until I stopped calling mom and dad that either.

"Age doesn't matter, Bells." Dad said, lightening the mood, "Age is just a number, baby."

Dad winked, Bella giggled, and Edward rolled his eyes. I tried not to feel excluded from this little joke, but it was obviously something from before my existance. Mom's too, apparently, since she didn't laugh either. She did attempt a smile, though, and I knew that I was alone on this afterall.


	6. Special

"So, you going to try out for the team or what?" Robin asked, wiping a small trickle of sweat off of her forehead with the dark green bandana she brought along for our run.

"I don't know..." I said, nervously twisting the cap of the water bottle on and off.

I had always loved running. I felt free whenever I was on foot and going faster than a human should. I was fast when I was in human form, but whenever I was phased, I had nearly full vampire speed. I could outrun Momma any day and, on a very good day, I could keep up with Edward for a hundred miles or so.

It was something that I inherited from Grandpa Edward and Dad, but to think about being on the school cross-country team seemed strange. I was a phasing vampire for crying out loud! Wearing a green "La Push High" jersey that sported a wolf, the team mascott as ironic as that was, sounded even more bizarre.

"Oh, come on. You know you'll have fun." Cousin Robin said, taking a sip from the water bottle I had been clutching before handing it back to me. "Besides, I need another girl on the squad to replace me next year. Regulation states that each team must have at least one female participant or else the club will be cancelled."

"What about Gretchen?" I asked. As the next oldest, she seemed like a better fit.

"Abbot? Are you kidding me?" Robin asked and I frowned at her wide, teasing grin. "That class pet would never make it past the starting line. I love that girl to death, but athletic she's not."

"Diana then." I suggested, thinking of Kim and Jared's shy little girl. "On second thought, maybe that's not such a good idea either." I had only spoken a handful of sentences to her but even from that, I could tell that I was the team's last hope.

Robin just raised her eyebrow in response, her brown eyes meeting mine as if to say 'no duh, Sherlock.'

"Come on, I want you on the team with me this year." Robin said, trying a different approach this time. "Just think of how it will screw with the boys." She stepped closer as if to share a secret. "I _know_ that you're dying to shut them up once and for all...I know that I am."

I smiled coyly. I _did_ want to prove my own with the stupid Rez kids. I thought coming here would be a cinche and that everyone would instantly take with me like had always happened whenever I moved. But I forgot just what kind of game we were playing. I wasn't just some new kid. I was their enemy (mostly) and that ticked them all off that I was allowed to go to school with them and they couldn't do anything to stop it. I was protected by my birth right, but also hated for it. If I had to hear Sammy Uley talk about me under his breath one more time, I was going to smack the arrogance off of his smug little face.

"Alright. I'm in." I agreed, my grin spreading wickedly.

"I knew it. I knew that you would want to show those stupid boys just what you're made of!" Robin said, slugging me in the arm gently. Or maybe it was supposed to hurt. I could never really tell since anything a human did to me felt like a feather touch. Even when I wasn't phased, my skin was still slightly more tough than a human's. It was one thing that I got from my mother, for sure.

"Well, maybe not everything I'm made of." I said with a fake laugh, trying to joke about the fact that I was different and everyone knew it.

"You're not a party trick, Mary." Robin said, taking a serious tone like I knew she would. Cousin Robin, being the oldest of our generation of Rez kids, had a lot on her shoulders all of the time. She learned a long time ago that she was going to be our leader (even if she wasn't a wolf). She had the "motherly act" down pact, I'll give her that.

"Yeah, well, sometimes it doesn't feel like that." I replied back, sighing at having to go through this conversation again. Momma and Daddy, especially since we moved to the Rez, have given me the "I love you, sweetie. You're so special. It's a shame no one else realizes how wonderful you are. Our special little Mary-bary."

"No one cares that you're different!" Robin said, clearly thinking that she knew what she was talking about just because she was older.

"The boys do." I snapped back.

"Yeah, well, boys are dumb. They're too stupid to realize just how great you being different really is." Robin said, sounding like my parents again.

"You really think that?" I asked agrily. I was sick of everyone pretending that I was normal or that I could fit in with everyone! After two weeks at La Push High, I knew better. I was always going to be a freak.

"Yes." Robin snapped, her face getting close to mine as she tried to reason with me. "I really do. I know that you were created for a reason, Mary. And it wasn't to be a punching bag for those idiots with low self-estimes that a girl could rattle them. You are _special_."

"Yeah, special." I said, rolling my eyes.

"No, Mary. You are _special_." Robin said, and I could of sworn for a second that I thought I saw tears in her eyes. But that was probably just sweat from our run. "Not weird. Not a freak. Not out-of-the ordinary. You are special, as in, one-of-a-kind and brilliantly unique and completely undeniably you. Do you know how many people crave to be as defined in their identity as you are?"

I didn't respond. I wasn't really sure that there was a way to force my mouth open to form words at this moment. I was too overwhelmed by what she was saying.

"You have a werewolf father who would fight to the death to protect you and your mother." Robin said, clearly having given this a lot of thought. "And an entire Pack that would rally to fight for you as well. Though some of the boys might not agree completely, it is still their duty and for you, they would...not to mention your mother. You are so precious to Aunt Nessie that she debated with my parents for a year over if it was going to be safe for you to return to La Push or not. But she loved you enough to respect your wishes when you said that you could handle the Pack boys."

"I-." I began, but Robin held up her hand.

"Just let me finish." She said, taking another deep breath. I nodded slowly, twisting the bottle cap again.

"And, despite what you might think about your parents not understanding you, they do. Your mom calls my mom every night to see if you've made any progress with Peter and his friends. Because she loves you and you're shutting her out. Now, no one truly understands what it's like to be you. I get that. But your mother, I know, at least understands a little bit. She was the first of her kind wasn't she? At least for a little bit?"

I nodded. I had never thought about it like that. I suddenly felt guilty for keeping my day's activities from her whenever she asked about school. I'd simply reply "fine" or "alright" when she asked how it went. I vowed right then that I would try harder. Because they didn't know how to handle me any more than I did.

"Feeling any better?" Robin asked when I remained quiet.

"Lots." I said, my chest feeling lighter. "And, I've decided to join track after all...I'm about to show those boys just how special I really am."

"That's my girl." Robin said, breaking out in a grin that reminded me so much of Daddy's.


	7. Running with the Big Boys

**You guys asked to see the boys, so here they are :D Review, please, because I love hearing from you all!**

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><p>"No way!" Sammy said angrily, clutching his fists to the side of his body in a tell-tale sign of a wolf trying desperately to control his temper. "There is <em>no way<em> that she's going to join the team!"

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Sammy. But the choice isn't yours to make." Mr. Call said sternly.

The school was low on teachers willing to work with so few students, and there wasn't really a need for a ton of teachers anyways, I mean really, so Embry Call was the sole teacher at La Push High School. The middle school had two teachers, but here, there was no need. That also meant that there were no coaches...except for Daddy's best friend. So, of course, I had a uniform by the end of Monday at school.

When I mentioned that I wanted to join the track team, Momma and Daddy were both over the moon. I think that they felt like I wasn't trying to fit in or that I hated being surrounded by wolves when all I had ever known was vampires. But running? That was something that didn't matter. I loved to run with Daddy as a wolf and Momma whenever she chose to hunt like I do.

It was easy to convince the school to let me on the team even at such short notice. I didn't even need to pull any strings (though I know that Jacob would have been happy to Alpha order the little mutts to love me). I feel kind of guilty for hiding what was going on with my parents, especially when Robin told me how Momma worried enough to check up on me with Aunt Rachel. I was touched. So when I got home from my run with Cousin Robin, I spilled everything: not fitting in because the boys teased me, feeling like a freak even though the girls tried really hard to accept me, hating my youngest cousin for being a brat to me, wanting to join the team to show the boys that I was special too. All of it.

And, well, let's just say that Nessie had a hard time keeping Jacob from phasing. He looked like he wanted to murder his little Pack mates. I had to hand it to the boys. They managed to keep their little teasings a secret from the Alpha for two whole weeks of patrols. But I begged Dad not to order them to be nice to me. It was something that I wanted to prove to them that I could do. I wanted, no, I needed to earn the friendship of the Pack if I was going to accept who I was completely.

"But...she's a..." Jared Dunlap Junior said, eyeing me with the ignorance of a boy so close to phasing like all of his friends. Since he was yet to be a part of the Pack, when he saw our teacher's glare, he wised up. "Girl. She's a girl, Embry." He said instead.

"Thank you for that lovely introduction, JJ." Embry said, grinning teasingly. "Robin is a girl, as well. And the rest of you are boys." He gave me a wink. "Now that that's established...how about you all go change so we can begin practice?"

Robin nudged me in the left direction, her gym bag slung over her shoulder. "My...well_, our_ locker room is this way. Come on."

I followed behind my older cousin, my jersey and gym shorts clutched tightly in my hands. The boys headed right and I turned to watch them leave. Tanner and JJ followed behind Sammy without a glance in our direction, all of their shoulders tightened as if headed off for battle. Peter gave me a half wave before rushing to follow the mini-Pack leader as well. I smiled slightly. It was progress. I couldn't be sure that our parents hadn't had a long talk about it, but I suspect that they might have. Ever since I told my parents about the boys picking on me, Peter has been much nicer to me...even if it was only when the other guys' backs were turned.

When we were all changed and on the field, I smiled. I could do _this_. Running had always been my sport. Showing up the boys wasn't going to even make me break a sweat. This part, I could handle.

Now, making them respect me and not be jealous of my abilities or keep them from calling me a cheater? Well, that was going to take a while.

After our stretches, Embry set us up in groups of three. "Sammy, Tanner, Peter. Robin, Mary, Jared."

"What?" I said in disbelief, pulling the coach aside. "NO."

"What's the problem, Mary?" Embry asked, actually concerned as opposed to the eye rolls that Sammy and Tanner were giving me as they mocked him behind his back.

"I am not going to race with Robin and Jared just because I'm a girl." I said sternly.

"The other three have been on track for a long time...and they're wolves, sweetie." Embry said, not understanding that that was the point. JJ hadn't phased yet and Robin was fully human. It wasn't a fair race for the two of them.

"I can keep up with them." I promised, grinning evily. "Give me a chance. I won't even phase."

Embry closed his eyes, the face of a man forever twenty-three, and took a deep breath. "Your father would kill me for putting you on the easy team, you're right. I thought it'd be a good first time on the team practice. But, you're right. It's not fair to hold you back...I just hope you know what you're doing." It sounded like a warning about life and not one about chosing teams.

"Peter!" Embry called loudly, even though it was doubtful that any of them had missed the conversation. "You're running second today. No 'but's."

Peter nodded, accepting it much more graciously than either of the other boys would have and I knew that Daddy (or maybe Uncle Paul) did have a talk with him. His mouth actually twitched into a smirk before it vanished just as quickly.

I lined up on the inside lane, farthest back, and knelt down to put my feet on the blocks. I could feel every eye on me as the three of us prepared for our run. Five times around the track was a mile, so that's what we were going to do. It was a long distance run since we were cross country, though, Robin promised that we'd practice sprints closer to a match.

"On your mark. Get set. GO!" Embry yelled, blowing the whistle that sent us all flying forward.

Even though I was slower in my human form than I was when I was phased, I still managed to keep up with the boys neck-and-neck. Actually, after the fourth lap, they seemed to be slowing down slightly. Not enough to make a difference to a human watching's eyes, but I did. And judging from the grin on Embry's face, so did he.

Gretchen and Diana cheered whenever I passed their section of the bleachers. I blew them a kiss, turning to run backwards as I did so, whenever I heard them. After three laps, they were going crazy!

Gregory Abbot was also in the stands, being the only guy on the Rez who didn't need to blow off steam with running like the others did. His father John had been the same way. Always calm and level-headed, never quick to phase. It was hard to remember John Abbott at all from Dad's old Pack stories because the teenager had hardly been outstanding. Greg wasn't either. Sometimes I forgot that he was even there because, unlike his outspoken teacher's pet sister, he never made a scene. Out of the Pack boys, I think I liked Greg the most if only for the fact that he didn't cause a lot of trouble. Even as Sammy's second in command, he didn't voice his opinion much.

Not many others were there since it was just an after school practice, but I could have sworn I saw a coppery redhead spying on me behind the bleachers. Oh, mom.

The last lap was all that really mattered, so I pushed myself as far as I could as quickly as I could. Tanner's dark buzzed hair was no longer in front of me; it was behind me now-his dark brown eyes wide with shock. Sammy was tougher to pass up. In the center lane, he was literally right next to me the entire race and so I knew that he was keeping close tabs on my speed. But not close enough. I sprinted past him in the last three seconds, crossing the finish line barely out of breath. He tumbled to the ground in defeat, his breathing slightly ragged. I think it was more out of anger than out of exhuastion.

His dark eyes glared up at me so I gave him my best innocent smile.

"This isn't over, Black." Sammy glared.

"Wouldn't dream of it." I said, feeling bold and confident so I blew him a kiss.

His cheeks redden and his stare intensified.

"Woah!" Peter and Robin said at the same time, wide grins on their faces.

"No one has ever beat Sammy!" Peter said, both in shock and a little bit of pride, maybe? "He holds the school record...as well as the state one."

"Really?" I asked. I knew that Sammy was fast. I just didn't know that the school competed statewide.

"You did good, kid." Embry said, helping Sammy up. "Don't let it discourage you that you lost one race."

"I didn't lose." Sammy grumbled. "It doesn't count if she cheated."

"_Cheated!_" I asked angrily. "How in the world could I have cheated?"

"Your eyes were red. I saw them. That means you phased, right?" Sammy demanded. "That's what happens when a freak like you tries to join a human team."

I whipped my head around so that he wouldn't see my eyes starting to tear up.

Robin burst out laughing, and even Sammy was distracted from me for a second.

"What is so funny?" Tanner asked, finally having caught up with us. That kid could hardly be considered light on his feet, that's for sure.

"You are." Robin said, still giggling. "A human team? Really? How can you judge Mary for what she is when you aren't even human either?"

"She's right, bro." Peter said and my tears completely stopped, I was so shocked. "We're hardly a team of humans. Well, except Robin and JJ...but he won't be long to join our side nowadays."

"_We_ don't cheat." Sammy said, continuing to stick with his point. "You don't see us phasing to win."

"I didn't!" I said angrily, turning to look him dead in the eye. "If I _had_ phased during the race, you can bet that I wouldn't have cared about beating you. I would have wanted to suck you dry." I let out a hiss. "Isn't that what you want to hear? That I'm an uncontrollable monster? That the town needs to be rid of me? Well, tough." I said harshly. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm not dangerous to humans, wolves, or any one else."

_"I_ am in control of myself. I'm _always_ in control." I raised an eyebrow. "What about you? How in control are you right now, doggie?"

Sammy's fists were clenched again and most of the top part of his body was shaking. He was phased in less than a second; with the blink of an eye, he was a large tan wolf and his practice uniform was shredded on the asphalt. He growled once in my direction and then headed towards the outskirts of the bleachers instead. Since only high school kids, my mom, and a few young kids that resembled the Uleys were there, no one seemed too concerned about Sammy's phasing.

"I'm sorry about Sammy. He's never had a girl beat him before." Peter said, striping off his jersey as he jogged towards the woods after Sammy. A howl sounded in the distance.

Yup, making them respect me and not be jealous of my abilities or keep them from calling me a cheater was definitely going to take a while.


	8. No News Is Good News?

_Previously On Story of Mary Black:_

_"If I had phased during the race, you can bet that I wouldn't have cared about you. I would have wanted to suck you dry. Isn't that what you want to hear? That I'm an uncontrollable monster? That the town needs to be rid of me? Well, tough. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not dangerous to humans, wolves, or any one else. I am in control of myself. I'm always in control."_

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><p>I didn't hear anything about Sammy's reaction to my beating him on Monday until three days later. Which I guess was good news? That's what they say, anyways. That no news is good news. Or, at least, that's what I thought until Peter brought it up.<p>

We were having our (now that it's happened twice) ritual Thursday night Black family spaghetti dinner over at Aunt Rachel and Uncle Paul's. I was glad that they accepted us fully into their homes. Even with Dad being Alpha, sometimes Jared and, especially, Kim would give us a second look whenever Dad had to go talk business and brought either me or Mom along. Even after Jacob imprinting on Nessie for nineteen years, old prejudices are still there; Mom and I still aren't completely trusted by all the locals.

"So, Mary, how are you liking high school?" Aunt Rachel asked as she twirled spaghetti on her fork. I could tell that although she wanted to pry and know every little detail (like I assumed Nessie put her up to), she also seemed to want to let me take my pace by asking general questions in hopes that I would confess everything on my own.

"It's fine." I said lightly. Then I remembered my promise to myself that I would be honest with my family since they were just concerned about me.

I cleared my throat, gave Nessie a pointed look, and began again. "High school is a lot different than being home-schooled. I think I'm getting used to it."

"And track? You think that'll stick?" Rachel said, laughing in memories. "I remember when Becks and I were in high school, we joined every club...for a month or two. Yearbook, cheer squad, track and field, even chess team. You name it and we joined it for a little while."

I smiled. "Yeah, I think that I'll stick with track."

"Well, with your mother's genes you should be the star of the team!" Jacob said boastfully, wrapping his arm around Nessie's shoulders proudly. "Not that Blacks are slow or anything. Other than Clearwaters, we're the fastest wolves. But still..." My cheeks reddened and Jacob cleared his throat nervously. "Oh, I'm rambling, aren't I? Sorry, honey." I understood what he was getting at.

"It's okay, Daddy." I said, willing my blush to lessen so my cousins wouldn't tease me.

I don't know why I was worried about that. Robin instantly picked the conversation up and steered it in a non-threatening direction.

"You should have seen Mary on the field at practice!" Robin told my parents unnecessarily. I say unnecessarily because I know that Mom was in the stands watching everything go down and that Dad had phased to help get Sammy under control after his little fit during the race.

"She was like a speed demon!" Robin continued, unfazed by the fact that everyone in my immediate family was trying to hide smiles. "She was running circles around the boys." Sara's eyes widened at that and for a second, I thought that she might be impressed. But the look passed just as quickly as it had come. I guess ten year olds can hold grudges for a lot longer than I thought.

"You're really that fast?" Sara asked in disbelief.

"Hardly." I said with a little laugh. "I just barely passed them at the end. And it was only our first heat."

"No need to be modest, Cuz." Peter said, speaking up for the first time all night. He had been unusually quiet since the track practice on Monday. "Sammy is still ranting about beating you in next Monday's practice." He slapped his knee under the table (unsuccessfully, I might add) and laughed. "He's so focused on not losing to a vamp girl that he failed the math test yesterday."

"Well, I'll just have to have a talk with him, won't I?" Jacob said half teasing even though everyone in the room, even the usually oblivious Sara, could tell that there was some truth behind it.

"No, Daddy." I said instantly, my cheeks reddening again in embarrassment. I couldn't believe that we were having this conversation in front of a current Pack member. I glanced at Peter quickly before my eyes sought out my father again. "I mean, no, it's okay. I can handle Sammy's smack talk."

I loved my father, but sometimes I wondered how he could have imprinted on my mother. He's all power and over-protectiveness and pure authority whenever he's in a situation that involves either of us, whereas Mom is nothing but sweetness and trying to sugar-coat our pain, both mine and hers, about being 'special.' She's protective in a 'I've been there and I understand' kind of way.

"You tell me the second it gets past smack talk? You got it?" Jacob asked me, but his eyes were trained on Peter's.

"Yes, sir." Peter said, a frown on his face. "I understand."

"Because I don't want my little girl to regret moving here. Anything that makes her feel that way, and I'll deal with the kids myself." Jacob all but growled. Even Sara seemed to straighten up a bit in her chair, her eyes darting to mine with a guilty expression on her face.

"Daddy, please..." I begged. If Peter leaked this conversation to the other boys while they were phased, I'd never live it down. My life would be over. There would be no chance of ever believing that I earned the Pack's respect. Because I would know that it was only because of Daddy's influence.

"Stop it, Jake. You're embarrassing Mary." Nessie said lightly, but with full authority. The imprint magic snapped my father out of his near crouch at the table. And, just like that, the conversation was light again.

Jacob let out a bellowing laugh. "So, I hear that there's a Welcome Home bonfire for us in the making?"

"Where'd ya hear that?" Paul said, his eyes twinkling as he looked at his wife who just smiled bemusedly. "Rach let it slip?"

"Nah," Dad answered honestly, "tel-a-wolf. You know Seth. Can't keep a secret from anybody. Even if they're not in his head."

"We wanted to surprise you guys." Rachel said, looking guiltily at Mom. "Sorry, I wanted to gab about it, but you know how the guys get...everything has to be an attempt at a surprise."

The mothers laughed over that one, while Jacob and Paul rolled their eyes.

"At least they try." Nessie said, still giggling. "But either way, I'm glad. I've been wanting to catch up with some of the other imprints since we got back...but it never seemed like the right time."

"Well, how's tomorrow for you?" Rachel asked, her grin maddening.

"I'm so excited already." Nessie said, grinning the smile that I inherited, and nudging Dad lightly. "Why didn't you tell me that it was so soon?"

"Hey, that's all that Seth said!" Jacob grinned right back at her.

The playfulness between everyone continued throughout the rest of dinner and into dessert and coffee. No one mentioned Sammy Uley again until Mom, Dad, and I were saying goodbye.

"I'll see you at the bonfire?" I asked Robin, one arm wrapped around her in a hug while both of hers were tight around mine.

"Well, duuuuh!" Robin said. "Wouldn't miss it. Actually, I've been helping Mom and some of the other Pack wives get this set up since you guys came back."

"Look at you, little miss responsible." I teased. "Now all you need is a husband and you can officially join the ranks with those women."

Robin rolled her eyes. "Who says I need a man? I can do everything without a man. Besides, who is there for me to marry here? Sammy? Hardly. Besides the fact that I'm three or four years older than every male in this county, I'm also way too smart and independent to even consider them."

I laughed along with her. "Well, you still have college to look forward to."

"Thank God for a fresh gene pool to look forward to." Robin said, walking me to the door. Mom was already in the car, so I figured they were waiting on me. We were blocked by Peter and Dad on the front porch, though.

"Um, Uncle Jake?" Peter said, looking not a bit like the twenty-something wolf and more like the fourteen year old boy that he really was.

"Yeah, buddy?" Dad said.

"The thing that you overheard in Sammy's thoughts on Monday...you know, when we phased to help him out after track? Well, he didn't mean any of those things, sir." Peter said, his hands shaking with this confession. "You haven't known him as long as I have. And you're new to the Pack mind...or new again...but I know Sammy and that didn't sound like him at all. It was the anger talking."

What in the world had Sammy thought that had my cousin shaking and my father's eyes blazing with fury?

"I hope to God that you're right...because if he lays a finger on her, I'll kill him." Jacob growled, the authority behind his threat hitting me even from five feet away. I had no idea how Peter was still standing; he looked like his knees were about to give out.

Oh, my gosh. Had Sammy threatened me? Was that why Dad had seemed even more protective since Monday? I felt like I was going to get sick.

So I did.


	9. Can You Handle It?

**Here's to _Kate Elizabeth Black_ for begging me to post another chapter this quickly. Hope you guys enjoy it. And please review so I know that people are still reading this :)**

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><p><em>Previously:<em>

_"The thing that you overheard in Sammy's thoughts on Monday...you know, when we phased to help him out after track? Well, he didn't mean any of those things, sir. It was the anger talking."_

_"I hope to God that you're right...because if he lays a finger on her, I'll kill him."_

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><p>"You sure that you want to go to the bonfire?" Mom asked me for the hundredth time since last night.<p>

Apparently, when you throw up in your uncle's bushes, everyone in the family takes notice. Not that I thought they wouldn't, but I was hoping that no one had seen that. I just got so wrapped up around the thought that Sammy (and probably a few of the other boys) were thinking threatening thoughts about me. So I threw up reflexively.

"I'm fine, Mom. I went to school and was perfectly fine. I think I can handle a bonfire." I rolled my eyes, though I knew that it didn't help my mother feel better about letting me go tonight.

"Are you positive, baby? I just don't want you to feel uncomfortable tonight." Nessie said, playing with one of my curly black ringlets. She had started out by brushing my hair an hour ago, so that we could get ready for the bonfire, but it turned into twenty questions about how my day went and if I was going to be able to handle the stress of hanging out with all of the young Pack mates.

"Mom. I have to do this." I said, at last. "Have you ever wanted to be accepted so much that you put up with crap for a little while?"

Nessie nodded slowly, a far away look in her eyes. "Yeah, I have."

"Then you must know that I _have_ to get up every morning and go to school with those stupid boys. And I _have_ to go to this bonfire tonight. Because it's just one of many that the Pack will throw." I said with passion. "And there's no way that I'll let those arrogant guys think that they've crushed me in any way. I'm a _Cullen-Black_. You should know more than anyone that I'm _destined_ to fight my way to the top because I've earned it."

"Okay, Mary-beary." Nessie said, pulling the curl back behind my ear to where it started out in the first place. "Then you'd better go find your shoes. Because we're leaving in fifteen minutes."

I nodded, grabbed my shoes, and looked at myself in the full length mirror once more. My big brown eyes looked even darker with the light mascara I applied and my pale cheeks looked not as ghostly due to the blush and foundation. Aunt Rose would be proud. And Aunt Alice would take pride in my outfit choice, too. Instead of jeans and a t-shirt like Grandma Bella would have chosen for the beach, Mom and I had picked out casual sundresses. Nessie's was dark green to bring out the red in her hair and I chose a simple yellow dress that made my hair seem even darker than it was. Anything to make me feel more like the rest of the dark haired, dark skinned Rez kids.

"You look beautiful, sweetie." Dad said whenever I came down the stairs. "And cheerful. That's good. Don't let them get you down, buttercup, just because you're special."

"I won't, Daddy." I said with a small smile. "And, thank you."

"Of course, sweetie. You look like a woman tonight." Jacob said, his cheeks tinted pink a little bit. I knew it was hard for him to admit that I was getting older. Oh, Dad.

"I'll always be your little girl, Daddy." I said, hoping that I wasn't making this more awkward. "Besides, I'm only fourteen."

"Not yet you aren't." Jacob teased. "You still have a month to go before then, buttercup."

A car horn honked. "Jake, Mary! Get out here before we're late to our own party!"

"Coming Mom!" I yelled back, following Dad out the door.

The entire drive to the beach was filled with Nessie's happy chatter about what all of the girls were up to. Dad didn't know much about anyone since we had only been back a few weeks and he had only phased with the younger wolves who didn't care about gossip like that. Seth, Embry, and Leah were happy to get off rotation for a little bit while Jake situated himself as Alpha over the youngsters.

We got out of the station wagon (a project car that Dad worked on whenever I was born and it was decided that the Rabbit wasn't suitable for a baby) and grabbed a beach towel each and lawn chairs for the 'rents. Actually, Dad carried everything but my pink towel. Which is a good thing because Mom didn't hang around at the car for very long.

"CLAIRE!" Nessie practically squealed, running ahead to hug the very pregnant woman that I didn't recognize.

"Oh, my gosh, Nessie! I can't believe it's really you! I mean, they said that this was a party for you guys, but I just didn't believe it until right now." The native woman gushed excitedly. "What has it been? Thirteen years? My how strange! And you don't look any older than the last time I saw you."

Dad and I finally caught up to her and the woman named Claire smiled at us.

"Almost fourteen." Mom said lightly. "This is my daughter, Mary. I believe you were eight at the time she was born."

"I remember when Quil told me that my friend Nessie was having a baby. I was two years older than you were!" The woman smiled widely again. "You've grown into such a beautiful young lady, Mary. I'm glad you guys are back. I've missed your mother dearly." She leaned in close, as if to tell me a secret. "Your mother was the very first friend I ever had...other than my Quil, of course."

I smiled. "I think you were her first friend, too...other than her Jacob, of course."

"It's so strange being physically older than you look, Ness." Claire said, turning back to Mom and Dad.

"How old are you now, anyways?" Jacob asked.

"Twenty-two and as beautiful as the first day I met her." Quil said, coming from seemingly out of nowhere and wrapping his arms around his very pregnant wife.

"Hmmph. I hope that I'm more beautiful at twenty-two than two years old." Claire teased her husband. "Where are Clara and Quincy?"

"With Emily. She says she misses having little ones around." Quil responded. "And, you are beautiful to me no matter what your age is."

"Isn't her youngest five, though?" Jacob asked. "Hardly considered old."

"You know Em." Quil said with an eye roll. "She finally quit popping out babies for Sam and now she doesn't know what to do."

"Rach says that Sam and Emily have six kids!" Jacob said in disbelief. "How can that not be enough for her?"

"Six?" I asked. This was news to me. I had met Sammy and Tanner at school. There were four more Uleys I had to watch out for?

"You know Sammy, sixteen, and Tanner, fourteen, from school already." Claire said innocently, not noticing how my body clenched up in fear at the sound of Sammy's name. "And, let's see. Emmie is ten now, and what are the twins? Eight?" She turned to Quil who nodded. "Well, Johnny and Jessy are eight and that makes little Sally five now."

"Wow." Nessie said and asked Claire to catch her up on everyone else's children since, other than that day she spied on me at track practice, she had yet to see anyone but Aunt Rachel's kids. Claire happily obliged, pointing out the kids as we passed them on our way to the main party area.

Greg and Gretchen had a ten year old sister, apparently. Georgina Abbot was a spitting image of her older sister, except the middle schooler had wide dimples. It was a little weird that Gretch didn't ever mention a sister before. I wasn't sure if it was because I never asked or because she didn't have a close relationship with her little mini-me.

Other than the Atearas, I knew everyone else at the party. The little Uleys were easy to pick out, each looking so much like Sam and Emily that it was hard to pass them off as anyone's kids but theirs. Johnny and Jessy looked like future phasing boys, which was disheartening. Two more kids that would probably hate me and my mother, great.

The Dunlaps were in the far corner with Embry; Kim and Diana were sitting quietly while Jared and JJ laughed loudly about whatever Embry said. I gave a small wave to Diana, but awkwardly dropped it when Kim shot me a look. That woman still didn't trust our family and I could tell already that she was going to be keeping a short leash on my friend tonight.

When we set our blankets on the other side of the Atearas, who were next to the Uleys, I finally got to meet Clara and Quincy. And, boy, were they worth the wait. Quincy had Claire's light brown eyes and Quil's wide grin, which he happily showed us the moment we walked up.

Clara Ateara was by far the cutest little one and a half year old that I had ever seen. Mom and Dad agreed.

"Wow, she looks just like you did when I first met you." Nessie said in disbelief. "Like, seriously, I'm being transported in time right now."

"Isn't she beautiful?" Quil grinned widely. "I'm just thankful that Embry or Seth didn't imprint on her. The teens I could handle, but if a thirty-something year old imprinted on my baby girl, I'd kill him."

"You would not." Claire said, smacking him lightly on the arm. "Because he would love our daughter unconditionally just like you did with me. And I would give anything for her to experience imprinting like we did. To have a man willing to play dress up with a toddler or to patiently teach a middle schooler how to ride a bike when she refused to use training wheels," both of them smiled at the memory, "or to get down on one knee in front of her entire high school at graduation to propose to his soul mate. Yeah, I would give anything for my little girl to have her own fairytale."

"Any imprints in this bunch?" Nessie asked, though by the look that she was giving Dad I could tell that she already knew the answer.

"No-pe." Quil said, popping the 'p' loudly. "Maybe it is more rare than we thought."

"You don't think that..._us_ being gone had anything to do with the lack of imprinting, do you?" Mom asked, clearly meaning the "vampire us" and not the "Black family us."

"Not a chance." Claire said instantly. "The boys still phased, even when you guys weren't in the area anymore. I think their soul mates just aren't here yet." She absentmindedly rubbed her stomach and I wondered if she was aware of the double meaning of her words.

"What about Embry and Seth?" Nessie asked quietly. "You think that they'll ever imprint?"

"Ha, Embry's already found his soul mate..." Dad said, his voice booming like always. "Leah's just too stubborn to accept him."

"Man, I've missed you guys around here." Quil said at the same time Claire said, "I sure have missed you guys."

And I thought my parents were a cutsie imprinted couple.

"Yo! Mary!" Robin called from her family's car. Sara was already with Georgina Abbot and Emmie Uley and I could see Peter with the Pack boys already. Rachel and Paul were headed towards our group, their own lawn chairs in hand and smiles on their faces.

I stood up, dusted the little bit of sand off my legs, and headed over to where my cousin was.

"You up for this?" Robin said, bumping her hip into mine friendly-like.

"Of course." I said as confidently as I could.

"Good." Robin said, grabbing me by the shoulders, my back to the beach. "Because here comes the firing squad."

I turned around to find the entire new Pack and a few of the future wolves headed my way.

"I got your back, Cuz." Robin said. And I knew that she would. I just hoped that I wouldn't need her to.


	10. Phasings

"Hey there, _Mary_." Sammy Uley said, trying to sound threatening. The way he said my name gave me the creeps, not gonna lie. I tried not to let him shake me, though. Because animals can smell fear. And deep down, the wolves are animalistic creatures.

"Hi, guys." I replied, looking at each of the guys. Sammy was in the front, looking as much as the Pack leader as a sixteen year old can; Gregory Abbot was to the right, standing as Beta, though his expression wasn't hard like Sammy's; Peter flanked him on the left, looking like he was torn between sides; Tanner Uley and Jared Dunlap Junior brought up the rear, each boy shaking with rage.

"What can we do for you this evening?" Robin said casually, leading the group towards the treeline. She was asserting herself as the dominant one in our group...and I could tell that Sammy didn't like that one bit.

"Our problem isn't with you, Greene." Sammy growled.

"I don't think all of you have a problem...do you?" Robin asked, looking each boy in the eyes once we were out of ear shot of the adults. To their credit, only Greg and Peter blinked in response. The others stayed frozen in masks of hatred.

"JJ, you too?" I asked in disbelief. The kid hadn't even phased yet; was he really going to stand behind the little Pack leader without any true loyalty?

"Yes, me too." The normally calm pre-teen spat out, his hands shaking. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear...Oh, God, he was only a month past his thirteenth birthday...

"Oh, no..." I said, finally realizing why he looked so much different under the moonlight than he did at school this afternoon. "When did you phase?"

"What do you care? This is what you wanted, isn't it? To come back here so you could ruin everyone's lives just like your mother did!" JJ growled out angrily, his fists clenched so tight that his knuckles looked white.

Kim's smile was nowhere to be found on his face. He looked like he was going to rip me apart piece by piece and then put me together again only so that he could hurt me some more.

"Leave my mother out of this." I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking. This was bad. This was very bad. JJ was just a kid! Nearly two years younger than I was. This wasn't fair.

"Why?" JJ growled. "She never had a problem butting into _our_ lives."

"Nessie didn't have anything to do with your life, Jared. Knock it off." Robin spoke up, attempting to cool the pre-teen down.

"She didn't? Really? Then explain how come the Pack was torn apart for so many years, Robin." JJ accused. "It couldn't have _aaaanything_ to do with the fact that the Alpha imprinted on a half-leech and went to follow her around like a lost puppy." His sarcasm was overpowering. How could such a young boy be so angry? "Four years with the bloodlined Alpha and then what? He just left with those freaks. Couldn't even pretend to be doing his job. She tricked him into abandoning his responsibilites like the little snake she is."

"_Imprinting_ is a wolf's job." I hissed, angry that my mother was getting all of the blame. "It was meant to happen for the two of them. They left so that they could become a family. You can't fight fate if it happens to you."

"Like he would have even tried! He was obsessed with the leeches even before the imprint." JJ growled, trying to take a step towards me, only to be stopped by the little Pack. "He was so in love with that Newborn freak that he would have followed the leech clan anyways."

"The Cullens were_ peaceful_. They_ helped_ the Pack." I said, trying not to let my anger show. I always had to be in control of myself. Because when I lost my temper, I was dangerous with a capitol D. "You would know that if you actually_ listened_ to the Elders' stories."

Then JJ said the one thing that I didn't expect. "I bet he didn't even imprint! I bet he made it all up so that he could abandon the Pack like our dads all knew he wanted to anyways."

My fists clenched, my knuckles white, my jaw tightened, and my eyes zeroed in on my target. He was going to pay for insulting my family like that.

"Say whatever you want about me...but do not make up lies about my family." I hissed, my body leaning forward on its own accord.

"I think you guys should calm down..." Robin said, looking between the two of us.

"Yeah, JJ, we can talk about this later..." Peter spoke up as well, looking like he was ready to phase if JJ did.

"What's wrong, Greene?" Sammy asked, though I'm not sure which of my cousins he was referring to. "Scared that he'll phase?"

"Not _him_." Robin said in a scared whisper, placing her slightly warm hand on my arm. "I'm afraid _she_ will."

I shrugged Robin's hand off. I was done messing around with these stupid boys.

"Mary, _no_!" Robin said as I lunged forward. I could feel my eyes changing to deep crimson red, my nails sharpening, and my other senses heightening as well.

JJ phased on the spot, his gangly paws just barely missing the back of Tanner's leg. The older boys backed up to give him room. Tanner went running towards the bonfire area, probably to get help. Robin followed after him as well. It was safer for her that way, anyways. I was a Newborn in this moment. And I doubt that I'd be able to stop myself from hurting anyone.


	11. Pack Fight

**AN: DON'T KILL ME! lol. Sorry that I haven't posted this sooner. I didn't like how this was going when I first wrote it and it took me forever to decide that this was where I wanted to take it. Enjoy? **

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><p><em>Previously: My fists clenched, my knuckles white, my jaw tightened, and my eyes zeroed in on my target. He was going to pay for insulting my family like that. I could feel my eyes changing to deep crimson red, my nails sharpening, and my other senses heightening as well. I was a Newborn in this moment. And I doubt that I'd be able to stop myself from hurting anyone.<em>

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><p><em>I'm going to kill you, Cullen.<em> JJ growled to himself.

His new werewolf senses distracting him as he took in the area: I saw the boys' chests as JJ looked around, the smoke from the bonfire still going on far behind us, the trees the surrounded us, and, finally, myself. My skin looked luminescent in the light, though my skin doesn't change whenever I phase. My long black curly ringlets were pushed behind my ears, allowing my face to look longer and more predatory than it actually was, and also making it easier for me to attack. My normally big brown eyes were narrow slits of angry crimson staring back at him. I saw my lip quiver in a growl.

He was so distracted by every little twitch that I made that I couldn't help but shift on the balls of my feet again just to mess with him. I even blinked, just for him. Human gestures aren't needed when I'm phased because I am fully vampire.

I wasn't distracted, though. I was far from it. I was a predator on the hunt.

_Come at me._ I thought back, a wide grin spreading across my face, my teeth pushed out.

The look on his face when he realized that I was in his head was worth all of the crap he had just said. Because I was about to show him _exactly_ who he was messing with.

_Yeah. You heard me correctly. I'm in your head._ I thought back to him, trying my hardest to keep my hands to myself.

Hearing all of the things going on in the back of his mind, and all of the murderous plans for me, I was having a tough time controlling myself, that's for sure. I just wanted to drain his neck. Not because I was thirsty (though, not having fed in a few weeks, I could use the blood); no, I wanted to stick my teeth into his viens and feel the life going out of him.

A small part of me knew that that was a very, very dangerous thought...but the loving human part of my conscious wasn't in control right now. I was a Newborn that was zeroed in on this particular wolf as my prey. He was going to go down, one way or another.

_What the hel-._ He thought, swearing in his head. It surprised me that the boy was already cussing like the bigger Pack boys. I guess I had never really paid him much mind since he wasn't a threat as a full human. Had he always been like this? What did I even know about any of the wolves, I mean, really? Maybe Dad was right to suspect something was up with them.

I flashed my teeth wider, just to see what he would do, and had to bite back a smile. He was shaking in his overgrown paws.

_Be very afraid._ I said, picking up on the hesitancy in his thoughts.

I didn't have much time to gloat in the feeling of having caught him off guard, though, because the other boys decided to phase as well. To protect JJ or me, I wasn't sure.

_Sh-._ Sammy swore once he noticed that I could hear them. No sneak attack for them, that was for sure. We were all evenly matched...or we would be, if I wasn't the dominant supernatural being here.

_Yeah. I'm in the Packmind_. I said, letting each of them absorb the new information.

Dad had been careful to keep that part of my ability out of his mind whenever he was phased with the Pack. I talked to him about it the other day and asked him why he didn't just tell them. He laughed and said that they wouldn't be able to phase knowing that a girl could see their every thoughts. Not that I had phased once since we moved here, but still.

_How is this even possible? You're a vamp!_ JJ asked in disbelief.

I honestly didn't know the answer to that one. Mom thought it might have to do with her ability. I think she hoped that I had inherited a gift like her sharing thoughts ability or like Grandpa's mindreading ability. Dad, on the other hand, theorized that it was because he was the Alpha and I was the next descendant supposed to take over the Pack. He said that it only made sense that I would be able to communicate with the wolves.

All of my reminiscing was kept private, though.

_Wouldn't you like to know?_ I said instead. Unlike the wolves, I knew how to keep my thoughts private...unless I wanted them to hear something. Dad could do it too when he was phased and Grandma Bella was a shield. I honestly had no idea which side of my family I got this little skill from.

_Stop screwing with us. This just proves you're even more of a freak It isn't natural for a vampire to be in our minds This is a sacred bond between shifters_. JJ said, though his words weren't as scary as he intended.

_Are you afraid, runt?_ I asked, taking a fraction of a step closer to him.

_N-no._ JJ replied, his voice shaking from both fear and anger.

_You should be. You should be _very_ afraid._ I repeated, stepping a step closer to JJ who was in the center of the group. Just one more step to the left and I would be on him.

Unfortunately, the Pack noticed that, too.

_My fight isn't with you, Sammy. Back away from the runt._ I growled, but even in the Packmind, it still sounded more like a hiss than a growl.

_You know that I can't let you fight him._ Sammy responded, a little twinkle in his eyes.

_He insulted my family. He must pay for that._ I said as calmly as I could, sqatting on my heels in a predatory stance, staring at the group of wolves.

I could feel Sammy pushing JJ towards the back of the Pack as he asserted himself as the Alpha once again. Ah, so they were protecting him. Good. He was going to need the cushion of protection. Because when I got my hands on him, I was going to make him suffer.

_JJ is a new wolf. You really expect him to control his temper... _Sammy said, hoping to ease the situation.

_Like you do?_ I asked, replaying the image of him phasing after our race on Monday: his face red as a cherry, his fists clenched tightly, his clothes shredded on the blacktop, his fuzzy tail disappearing into the trees.

_That's not the same thing._ Sammy said angrily, embarrassment clear across his face. _Besides, I don't see _you_ in control of yourself right now._

_Sammy, I don't think you should push her... _Peter spoke up. I had almost forgotten about the other wolves. I was so focused on getting through Sammy to get to JJ.

I took a moment to look at the Pack. Really look at them. Though I knew them all in wolf form because I had been in my father's mind, I had yet to ever see them in real life since I had moved here. They kept their distance from me because I wasn't like them.

Sammy was a black wolf like his father, though he was a good head shorter than Sam Uley the First; Peter was a shade darker grey than Uncle Paul; JJ looked the exact shade medium brown as Jared Senior, though he was also about half his height; each son looked like their former phasing fathers. Except one.

Gregory Abbott was a surprise since his father had been a dark brown and Greg looked coppery red. He looked almost the same shade as my mother and grandfather Edward's hair color.

_Stay out of this, Pete. Or you'll be next._ I hiss/growled. _My fight isn't with anyone but JJ. _He_ insulted my family._

_He might have said it to your face...but don't you think that we all feel the same way?_ Sammy said menacingly. That was when I remembered that Dad had made Peter monitor Sammy's thoughts. Threats towards me? He wasn't serious, was he? _You don't belong here, Cullen._

_Cullen-Black._ I said, my eyes narrowing even tighter. All I was seeing was red. And it wasn't from the color of my eyes._ I'm a Black as much as I am a Cullen. _

Sammy just I was really angry.

_I'm a Black as much as Peter is._ _Even _more so_, since it is his mother that carries that particular bloodline gene and my father. You know, my_ father_? The _Alpha_? It was no mistake that my father imprinted or that I was born. If imprinting is about building a stronger generation of wolves, then what better way than to have _me_?_

_You can't seriously believe that. _Sammy growled, his front paws lowering so that he was in a fighting stance. _I am the next Alpha. There's no way that I'll ever let you take that from me. _

The next few seconds were on a blur, looking back at it. I can't remember if I lunged first or if he did, but all I remember is colliding with his massive wolf body. I dodged him when I could, and went for his neck whenever that was possible too. I never managed to get a good bite in, but I did take a small chunk of his fur. I would have gotten all the way to his skin, but I was inturrupted. Those forty-two seconds of fighting were intense!

Four other, much bigger, wolves appeared on the scene, along with a nervous looking still-human Tanner. I recognized them all instantly. Dad was flanked by my teacher, Embry Call, who was currently a grey wolf with black spots on his back and his grey furred Beta, Leah Clearwater. Last, but not least, the sandy colored wolf better known as Seth Clearwater took up the rear.

_Enough! _Jacob Black ordered. Even though I was a Newborn vampire in this moment, I still fell under the power of his command. I was as much a part of the Pack as any of the wolves, despite my differences.

We all fell to our knees. Or, rather, I did. The wolves layed down, their heads resting on their front paws, nearly cowering under the power.

_I will not have my Pack fighting each other._ Dad said, still seething. _You could have hurt each other! Do you think that this is how we are supposed to act? NO! Sammy, JJ, you will both pull double shifts for a week to make up for all of the hurtful things that you've said. And for provoking Mary. _

_But-_ JJ whined.

_No but's. You all knew how difficult it was for her. And I've given you more than enough warnings, Samuel._ His eyes bored into Sammy's, causing the young teen to shrink back even further.

_What about her?_ Sammy growled when a minute of silence passed. _She was the one who started this._

_And Mary will be punished_. Dad assured, turning to face me. _Phase back, now, young lady. I'll deal with you in a minute. _

I did as I was told. Not just because he was my father asking me, but because he was my Alpha demanding it. I stood up, watching the rest of the scene unfold. It was strange to have my thoughts to myself again. Whimpers and tiny whines escaped the young wolves when Dad continued to talk and more than one of them shot me an annoyed look.

I spit out black fur from my mouth, wiping the side of my cheek with the back of my hand.

When everyone headed back towards the beach, I looked at my father again. There was concern, worry, anger...but mostly disappointment in his eyes. I felt like I would start crying right there and he hadn't even given me my punishment yet. I was flooded with shame for my actions.

I deserved whatever it was, though. And I'd accept it gracefully. I had screwed up big time. I just hoped that Daddy didn't hate me for it forever. How bad does it look when the Alpha can't control his own daughter?


	12. Mary Drops A Bomb

**AN: This chapter is a bit of an emotional rollarcoaster for Mary and her dad. Enjoy the ride.**

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><p>When everyone headed back towards the beach, I looked at my father again. There was concern, worry, anger...but mostly disappointment in his eyes. I felt like I would start crying right there and he hadn't even given me my punishment yet. I was flooded with shame for my actions.<p>

I deserved whatever it was, though. And I'd accept it gracefully. I had screwed up big time. I just hoped that Daddy didn't hate me for it forever. How bad does it look when the Alpha can't control his own daughter?

I allowed him time to phase back behind a bunch of trees before I spoke up. I twisted a bunch of my sundress nervously while I waited, my teeth piercing my bottom lip.

"Daddy, I can explain..." I started, my voice quivering much more than I had hoped it would. I didn't want his pity because the boys had been picking on me, I just wanted to be heard out. My side of the story needed explaining.

"You have a minute before the others reach the bonfire. After that, your mother will most likely come out here looking for us." Jacob said, stretching his leg out.

Instead of telling my story like I planned so that he would have no choice but to understand and take my side, the words that escaped my mouth surprised me. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let them get to me the way they did. Forgive me?"

Jacob Black, the strong Alpha, let out a long sigh. "Of course I forgive you...I just want to know why you did it, Mary. You knew how important it was for all of us that you didn't phase on La Push grounds. Your mother and I taught you the rules. We were very strict about that, Mary. No phasing. And what did you do? Phased and tried to attack a new wolf. You're lucky that Sammy stepped in."

"Sammy started it!" I exclaimed in disbelief, an image of the little Alpha taking over my thoughts before I can stop it. Did Dad not see the whole thing through their minds? Surely ONE of them would have included the part where the Pack ambushed me when I was just talking to Robin.

"I know that." Another long sigh. Dad ran his left hand through his short hair.

"Yo-you know that the boys started it?" I asked, just to make sure that I heard him correctly.

"I know that they cornered you. Robin and Tanner told me...though, the boys couldn't keep it from their minds either." Jacob said, his eyes still full of disappointment. "I just don't know why you would let them get to you, honey. You've been doing so well so far..."

"You think it's been easy for me?" I said, biting my lip so I wouldn't cry.

"Not easy..." Dad said, looking lost. "I never said it was going to be easy. When we talked about moving here, your mother and I spoke to you about how we thought the Pack might act. I thought you understood..."

"I understand all right." I said, suddenly angry at my father even though I knew deep down that he was just doing what he was supposed to as Alpha: protect the Pack from vampires. "I'm not wanted here. I'm dangerous. I'm a _threat_ to the wolves."

"Honey, no, I didn't mean it like that." Jacob looked like he was having an inner debate with himself.

"It is, though." I said with meniac. "I'm never going to be like them, Dad, just face it. All those talks we had about me being special, it was all crap. You knew it all along. But finally, I know it too."

"But you _are_ special, Mary!" Dad said, his deep brown eyes trying to convey it to me. "You were our little miracle baby."

"Some miracle." I said, rubbing my nose with the back of my hand. "More like a curse. Admit it, you and mom would have it easier if I hadn't been born. You wouldn't have had to move or abandon the Pack and no one would have hated Momma for what she represents because the imprint would mean that you would remain the Alpha forever since you are both immortal. Look me in the eyes and tell me that I'm wrong, Daddy, because I don't think that I am."

He remained quiet, his thoughts clear in his wide eyes.

"At least have the decency to stop lying to me." I hissed, sounding more like the creature I really am than the special little girl he tried to raise. "For once in your life, just tell me the truth! Admit it, you guys would have had an easier life without me!"

"It's true..." Jacob said softly, breaking my heart in two.

The tears that I had held in finally rushed out of me like a flowing river. There was no containing them anymore. I had always suspected this, but never would I have truly believed that my father would admit it, no matter how angry I was right now.

"But even if our lives would have been _easier,_ doesn't mean that I would go back and change anything." Dad said sincerely. "You are our little miracle, Mary. You are the reason that your mother sings the way that she does or that I have such pride in this world; because you _are_ our world."

"What about the precious little _Pack _you love so much? Wouldn't it be easier if I was not around to stir them up?" I spit the word, not caring that my father's expression was torn in grief.

An image of Sammy Uley with the boys behind him came to the front of my mind. It was selfish of me to ask my father to choose between the Pack and me, all ready to fight. I knew it was selfish to ask that. I just wanted him to tell it to me straight for once in my life and I figured that this was my only chance.

"I don't want _easy._ I just want you and your mother to be happy. That's all I've ever wanted. I'm sorry if I let my Pack duties interfer with that, Mary, I truly am." He ran his fingers through his hair again, a nervous habbit of his. "If I had known that the boys would make good on their threats, I would have had this meeting with them a long time ago. Honestly, I thought it would blow over."

"We're mortal enemies. Forever going to be at battle with one another..." I said, willing myself not to cry. "How could you have ever thought that we'd make nice?"

"Because I did." He said sternly.

"Because you _imprinted."_ I reminded him, angrily. He didn't seem to be getting my point. "You imprinted and it worked out; she accepted you and you guys are in love sitll. If that hadn't of happened, you'd stilll be chasing the Cullens, bent on murdering them all."

"That's how I know that you and the Pack will end up as friends." He spoke with such honesty in his voice that for a second I believed him.

"There's no magic that can help me, Dad." I said, one final tear rolling down my cheek. I hurried to wipe it away. "Without imprinting on my side, no one is forced to accept me..."

"What makes you think that you won't be imprinted on?" Jacob asked. "You're a Black. Your Aunt Rachel and I both were a match for the imprinting fate. What makes you think that you'd be any different?"

I shook my head, another wave of tears escaping from under my lashes.

I looked up just as Nessie came into the area of the forest we were conversing in, her face showing all of the concern and understanding of a mother who knows exactly what her daughter is going through. I ran into her awaiting arms, letting her curl me to her despite the fact that I was almost fourteen and much too big for this kind of embrace.

Jacob walked slowly towards us, picking up his cues from my mother on what to do next with their hysterical daughter. A look, a small nod, a shake of the head, a lip twitch: all of the secret signals that an imprinted couple has perfected by the second time they stare into each other's eyes.

"You know that you'll still have to be punished for fighting." Dad said at long last.

I nodded into Nessie's chest. "I don't care. I deserve it. It doesn't matter anyways."

"Why doesn't it matter?" Nessie asked, when I knew that Dad just wanted to duel out my punishment so that we could head back to the bonfire and he could tell the Pack that he had done his job to remedy the situation.

I looked at Dad instead; my eyes, the same color as his, staring like a mirror into his. "Go ahead and punish me. Order me not to phase ever again, please, Daddy. I know that that's what you want to do. Make me the normal daughter you always wished you had."

"I would never do that." Jacob insisted. "I love you the way you are, you know that, honey."

He touched my back with his large palm, rubbing soothing circles on my back.

"Please, Daddy," I said, blubbering like a baby, "order me not to phase, please, Daddy." My voice hardened. "It's best for the Pack! Don't you see that?" I was practically yelling at him now, something I had never done before to either of my parents.

"What has gotten into you, Mary? What made you so angry lately?" Nessie asked, her voice soothing.

"I knew moving here wasn't a good idea for you." Jacob said at the same time, his voice final in a decision that I didn't think was still up for debate.

"You asked me why I thought that I wouldn't be imprinted on." I said, seeming to change the topic but really this was the heart of the discussion. Before either of them could say anything comforting, I raised my tear streaked face to look at both of them.

"I know that I'll never be an imprintee...because I've already imprinted." I said, trying to keep my voice level, but even I could tell that the tears were falling from my eyes.

My voice dropped to a whisper, my tears making more noise than my voice. "And Sammy still wants to kill me. So much for he magic of imprints."

"Oh, honey, that's punishment enough." Mom said, pulling me even closer to her. I wept into her chest while Dad stood back, completely dumbfounded by the bomb that I just dropped.


	13. Deepest Fears

**AN: Sorry this took so long to update. *don't throw things at me!* I promise more updates more regularly now that I have internet back up at my house. Thank you for all of the reviews. Anyways, here goes.**

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><p>"Okay, girlie, spill." Robin said, breaking the silence that I had forced us into for the past twelve and a half minutes. We were hanging out in her room the morning after my welcome home bonfire, or rather, my complete freak out at the bonfire since that's all that anyone will remember about it. I still felt horrible that my parents had to deal with defending me today against everyone. But Mom and Dad dropped me off at Aunt Rachel's house this morning so that Jacob could deal with the Council.<p>

"Spill?" I asked, not understanding the expression.

"You know, spill, dish, tell me everything." Robin said, toying around with her new laptop from my family as I sat on the end of her bed with her.

"There's not really much to tell..." I said, hoping that my cousin would let this conversatin drop.

But, considering what I know about Robin, I had no such luck. She scoffed. "Really? You phased in front of everyone and there's nothing to tell? I was there, remember? Scary stuff, Mary. I'm not gonna lie, you scared me a little bit when your eyes went all red like that..."

"I'm sorry about that." I responded automatically. I didn't want my cousin to feel weird around me, especially considering that she was my only real friend here. I mean, I sort of had Diana and Gretchen, but I highly doubted that I'd be allowed to hang out with them now that I phased in front of most of the tribe. I knew that Kim had already informed Mom and Dad that Diana wasn't allowed to be near me at school.

Robin shrugged, blowing it off. "You are who you are. I'm just glad that you didn't hurt anyone."

"How can you be so calm about this?" I asked, not understanding my cousin's behavior.

"Because," she said sincerely, "it's the same way I feel whenever one of the boys phases when they're angry. You're just a different kind of mythical creature, no more dangerous than they are."

"But I _am_ dangerous!" I exhaled. "More dangerous than the wolves! How come you don't believe me? You saw me last night, remember? I could have killed everyone there."

"You might have the power to kill, but that doesn't mean that you're more dangerous than the wolves." Robin answered plainly.

I rolled my eyes. "And what makes you think that?" Clearly, she wasn't getting it.

She sat up on her bed, pushing her laptop off of her lap so she could pull her legs up to her chin and rest her arms on her knees. Once she was comfortable, she continued. "Because, like you said Monday at track practice, you're in control of yourself."

"I was hardly in control yesterday, Robin." I said, not understanding how she could be so calm about this. She was the one who admitted that she was scared of me already. If she had reason to fear, then why didn't she believe that I was more dangerous than the boys?

Robin just shook her head. "You sent me away when you felt that you were losing control over your temper." She picked at a piece of her flowered bedspread. "You know how many times the boys have done that? Or my father? Of any of the other Pack members?"

She looked up at me with her wide eyes, looking vulnerable and scared for the first time since I met her. It was unnerving. I shook my head, not sure of the response that she wanted.

"Never." She whispered, admitting her deepest fear to me. "I could look like Emily Uley right now and the boys wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Because none of them have ever been able to think about anyone but themselves whenever they lose their tempers." She paused, letting a smile cross her face as she continued to look at me. "But you, you gave warning and tried to fight it off as long as you could. You cared about everyone in the situation. And they've never done that. So, no, I don't think you're more dangerous than they are."

"Does that really bother you?" I asked. "The fact that you could have Emily's scars?"

Robin shrugged. "It's something we've all had to deal with growing up. When Jacob imprinted on Nessie and took over as Alpha, he ordered that the entire tribe be told about the wolves protecting the land from vampires and imprinting and every thing about the legends that the generations before us thought were all myths. The Council couldn't really deny the Alpha that request. And, I'm thankful that everyone knows about the Pack and imprinting, so that no situation like Leah and Emily and Sam's doesn't have to happen again...but, at the same time, I wish that I didn't know that a bear hadn't mauled kind-hearted Emily. It's always been a fear of mine, that I could be in her position one day. Not specifically that my imprinter hurts me, but that _anyone_ could do that to me."

My cousin smiled lightly. "But, if I had to get attacked by one of the wolves, I would like it to be one that imprinted on me, that's for sure. The way that Sam loves Emily makes it easier to understand why she could forgive him."

"Don't be in a rush to get imprinted on." I all but growled, startling Robin.

"When did this change?" Robin asked. "Last Saturday, you couldn't wait to be an imprintee and join the Wolf Girl family."

"Yeah, well, last Saturday I didn't know any better." I said bitterly. "Imprinting didn't fix all of my problems. Actually, it made them worse."

"Wait, what?" Robin asked slowly. "You mean...someone imprinted on you?"

I shook my head, feeling tears pooling on the edges of my eyes. I had been too upset last night to talk to my parents about imprinting, though I did let Mom sleep in my bed and cuddle with me while I cried. Dad sat in the chair in the corner of my room, his expression changing from anger (at Sammy, I assume) to confusion and disbelief to wonderment and then back to anger.

"I-I imprinted." I said, letting the tears finally flow down my cheeks.

"How could you have imprinted? I don't understand. You're not even a wolf." Robin said logically.

"I shouldn't be able to phase either." I responded bitterly. "But I can. And I'm in the Packmind. Nothing is off limits for the Alpha's daughter, apparently."

"Well, who's the lucky guy?" Robin asked, handing me a tissue from her nightstand.

I blew my nose into the tissue, shaking my head for no reason. It wasn't that I didn't want to tell Robin, it was more like if I spoke his name, I wouldn't be able to control my emotions anymore. And I was already a complete mess right now.

"Shhh, it's okay, you don't have to tell me. I can tell that this is upsetting you. When you're ready, I'm here, okay?" Robin said, rubbing my back soothingly. She really was like the older sister I never had.

"S-sammy still hates me." I said between sobs, admitting to her my deepest fear come true. "I im-imprinted on him last ni-ight when I phased...and he s-still ha-hates me-ee."

Robin wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a hug and, just like my mother last night, I cried into her shirt until I felt like I couldn't produce tears anymore.

"You're sure it's imprinting? And not something else?" Robin asked, making sure for herself and maybe to make me certain about it.

I nodded. "I felt the shift, Robin. The earth holds nothing for me without him. I just want to make him happy. And, all his thoughts were about ending my life because I don't belong here. I-I don't know how long I can go on like this."

When Robin stared at me, I added, "I'm not suicidal or anthing, don't worry."

"Of course I'm going to worry about you." Robin responded automatically. "You're just in a rough patch right now. Things will get better. I'm sure it's not going to be like this forever. He won't be able to resist you for long, if it is imprinting."

"Imprinting didn't help me at all. It's not all powerful like everyone has always said." I said, shaking my head. I wish I had Robin's faith.

But I had been in the Packmind; I knew that imprinting didn't change anything.


	14. Lots of Tears

After my talk with Robin on Saturday, I went home and spilled my guts to my mother. I knew that I shouldn't have kept anything a secret, but imprinting on Sammy felt too painful to talk about with my mom. But, talking to Robin always made me feel better about whatever I was dealing with...which made me feel guilty for not talking to my mom about it first. There was a time, not too long ago, in my life where Nessie was my very best friend in the whole world. But growing up has changed so many things for my life. I used to be such a Momma's Girl, but now it felt like I couldn't relate to either of my parents. Which was rediculas becuase my dad phased and my mom was part vampire. They should be able to understand me better than a normal set of parents would understand me.

Nessie claimed to understand what I was going through when I told her everything that I told Robin about my fears of things never getting better and I even mentioned wishing that I could just die so Sammy could get what he wanted. Because his happiness was all I cared about. Mom smiled, frowned, cried, laughed, and held my hand while I went through my rollarcoaster of emotions Saturday night.

"Things will get better, baby." Nessie said when she kissed my forehead and tucked me into bed. "You're smart, beautiful, and a completely wonderful person. Sammy will come around, I promise. You're too good of a catch for him to ignore for long."

"Isn't imprinting supposed to make things easier?" I asked, trying not to start crying again since I had finally wore myself out enough to try to sleep.

Momma laughed lightly. "Oh, honey. Whoever said that?"

I blinked. "But, you and Daddy have it so easy..."

"Don't you think that we had troubles when he first imprinted on me?" Nessie asked. We had never really discussed my parents' relationship. There was never really anything to discuss: their relationship was always so perfect and loving and accepting.

I shook my head and Mom sat down on the bed next to me. "Well, we did." She said, gently tucking a piece of my curly black hair behind my ear with her hand. "I was just a baby...and your grandmother, a Newborn vampire at the time, almost killed my Jacob. No one really understood our relationship except Quil and Claire. Everyone judged us. Especially the Pack who thought that your dad was betraying the tribe. I was a half-vampire, the enemy, and he was the rightful Alpha. It wasn't until they all felt our connection in his mind that they understood and accepted us. There was no way that your dad could have walked away from me even if he tried, the connection was too strong."

"Sammy has no trouble walking away." I said, feeling tears rise up again.

"It's only been a day, honey. You can't expect everything to magically work out." More hair petting. "Imprinting points out your soul mate to you, that's all. It's not all love at first sight and happy rainbows like I think you've got it in your head. Quil and Claire had to deal with her family's judgement and that awkward transition between brother to best friend to lover that your father and I went through..." She paused, a look across her face, "and everyone in town knows that Sam and Emily had difficulties, too."

I took what Mom said to heart, but couldn't find it in myself to get out of bed the next morning.

I stayed in bed and cried, thinking about Sammy and his hatred towards me. I had been in his mind when the shift happened. He _felt_ it. That's what hurt the most. He felt the imprint pull and _still_ he wished that I would just disapear from existence because I was a freak. It broke my heart every time that I thought about it.

So all Sunday, I stayed in bed except for meals which Mom made me eat with her and Dad in the kithen.

"Daddy, please don't make me go." I said whenever Jacob came to wake me up for breakfast before school on Monday morning. "I can't face them yet. I can't face him. Please, oh please, Daddy, please don't make me go to school today. I swear I'll go tomorrow. Just please, not today."

Jacob looked at me with a mix of emotions before sighing. "Alright, Mary-bary. But just for today. Come eat breakfast with your mother, I've got work to do with the Council today. But tomorrow you're going to school."

"Thank you, Daddy." I said, giving him a hug as we headed towards the kitchen. I ate only what I was required and then returned to my bed until lunch. I went through two or three boxes of Klenex while everyone was at school. It felt like I was never going to see Sammy again, and my heart hurt just thinking about it.

So, you can understand why Monday night caught me completely off guard.

I had fallen asleep around nine o'clock, my eyes overwhelmed from crying the entire day and not able to stay open a second more, and was in a decently pleasant sleep considering my heart was severed in half.

My dream was normal at first: my family and I were at our old home, back when I hadn't phased yet and was simply a seven year old girl playing with her dolls, and I was happy. Then, like always in this dream, I phased for the first time and killed everyone that I loved dearly. Only this time, there was a lean black wolf lying dead around my family members. It was so vivid that I could even smell Sammy's blood in my room.

A nightmare like that should have startled me out of sleep. But still, I didn't wake up.

I was so out of it that I didn't hear the knock on the door.

"Go away." My father growled from down the hallway, apparently having answered the door.

"She a, she skipped track practice today, Mr. Black. Embry wanted me to check on her." His voice sounded like it was amplified in my ears.

I sat up straight in my bed, suddenly not tired at all. My heart was beating a thousand beats a minute, or so it felt, and I couldn't decide if I wanted to go out there and confront Sammy or curl up in my bed again and ignore him like he had been doing to me. So I clutched my blanket tight around me and eavesdropped instead, caught up in every word that my imprint exchanged with my father.

"At eleven o'clock at night?" Jacob asked in disbelief.

"Please, just let me see her real quick." Sammy said, an angry whine escaping from his mouth.

"And why should I do that, young man? You made my daughter cry for four days. Do you know what I want to do to you right now?" Dad all but growled again. "Let me tell you, it isn't pretty. In fact, if it were up to me, I'd be having you on patrol 'round the clock until the end of eternity."

"I understand that, sir." His voice was strained. "But, I need to just_ see_ her for a second, okay?"

"Jake, who's there?" Nessie asked, her voice telling me that she was in the hallway by the front door with them now instead of my parents' bedroom. "Oh."

"Please, just let me see her for a second. Then I'll leave, I swear." I couldn't tell if he sounded angry or in pain; maybe a little bit of both.

"Let me go ask Mary what she wants to do about this." Nessie said, sounding sympathetic to the boy who had crushed my heart into a million pieces.

Her bare feet sounded like ticking time bombs with each step she took headed towards my bedroom. I felt like I might get sick. My heart was in my throat and my hands were clammy. I didn't think that I could look at Sammy right now, let alone form any sort of words to say to him.

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><p><strong>Two chapters in one day? I think I deserve some fantastic reviews lol. JK. <strong>

**But, seriously, review and let me know if you want the next chapter to be in Sammy's POV. If not, it will be from Mary's like usual. Thanks for the input that I know you'll all have :D**


	15. Nessie's Logic

A soft knock on my door shouldn't have startled me, especially because I knew that it was my mother since I had heard her the entire walk from the front room to my bedroom. But, still, I nearly jumped three feet in the air, pulling my blanket up with me.

"Mary, honey, are you awake?" Nessie said softly, though the guys could probably hear her from the living room. "It's Momma. Let me in, sweetie, I've got a question for you."

I swallowed the fear in my throat and distangled myself from my covers. I took eight small steps towards my bedroom door and twisted the knob carefully.

"Oh, good, you're up." My teenage mother said, looking every bit her physical age right now: all excitement and nervousness about a boy being over at the house to see me.

When I didn't respond, she continued. "I know it's late and you may or may not want to see him, but you have a visitor..."

"I know." I replied, still unsure of if I wanted to face him or not.

He had caused my heart so much pain over the last four days that I wasn't sure I wanted to let him off the hook just yet. Just because _he_ wanted to see _me_ meant that I had to bend to his wishes? What about _me_? I had been desperate to hear his voice or see his smile or get a whiff of his strong not yet a man scent. But no. He hadn't wanted anything to do with me when he found out that I was his soul mate. He had _rejected_ me. An imprintee had never rejected the imprinter...well, Emily tried. But that was out of love for her flesh and blood, not because she was being a _selfish coward_.

I know that an imprinter only seeks happiness by making their mate happy, but clearly me dying was not going to be an option, no matter how much I knew that Sammy wanted me to. Deep down, I wished that this was all a big mistake and that the imprint wasn't real between us.

"Well, are you at least going to go see him?" Mom asked, seeing my emotions clear on my face. "I can tell him to leave...but I really think that you should."

"Why?" I whispered, too afraid that the boys would hear us. "Tell me why, Momma, and I'll go. Because, right now, I can't see anything good coming out of this. He hates me, remember?"

"If he really and truly hates you, and I highly doubt that he does, then tell him that he should tell you that to your face and that he is happy without you." Mom said and my mouth dropped open.

I felt like I was going to cry again. "That's awful, Mom. Why would you want me to have him say those things to me?" I knew I was above my quiet whisper that I had intended now.

"Because, honey, if he can't accept that you're different and get over his past feelings of hatred towards our kind, then I want him to say it in front of your father." She stated simply.

"But I don't want Daddy to kill him!" I exclaimed in a panicked whisper. Just thinking about Sammy not being in this world with me siezed my heart in a wild panic. "You just don't understand, Mom. Your imprint is perfect with Daddy."

"Is that what this is all about? I think maybe you should sit down, Mary." Mom said, taking a seat on my bed and patting the empty space next to her with her hand.

When I was sitting down next to her, she continued. "I think you're old enough now to know the truth. The whole truth about when your father first imprinted on me."

I gave her a quizical look and she let out a long sigh. "We're not so different, Mary. I know that every girl thinks that her mother can't relate to her but I can more than anyone with you. I've never admitted this to anyone...but I grew up my whole life knowing that your father wanted to destroy me."

I let out a gasp. "What? B-but you guys are in love. How can he want to kill you?"

Nessie shook her head. "Not now. His feelings completely changed as soon as he laid eyes on me...but that doesn't change the fact that I know deep down that at one point, he was planning my murder. I actually was watching him from Rosalie's arms as he approached. That gleam in his eyes was pure hatred...until he caught my gaze."

"I don't understand." I said, shaking my head, willing it not to be true. "Daddy would never hurt you. He loves you."

"Your father, before I was born, wanted to seek revenge for Grandma Bella's change. I had killed his best friend. I was not only the unknown enemy threat, but I was also the person responsible for the end of his friend's human life." Nessie said and I finally started to understand her logic in not telling me sooner. I wanted to say that it didn't change anything, but I wasn't sure that I'd be able to look at my loving father the same way again.

"So, imprinting forced him to love you?" I asked, feeling tears whelling up in my eyes for the both of us. My whole life seemed to be based on a lie now.

"Maybe it was forced, but I don't think that his love isn't genuine. He fell in love with me long before I was ready to accept it, so I know that it wasn't just him responding to my needs and wants." Mom said, reaching out to pull me in a hug. "Imprinting was the best thing that could have happened to me. I know that one day you'll feel the same way."

"How can you be so sure?" I whispered, my big brown eyes looking up at hers. "I wish I had never imprinted..."

"Shhh, honey, don't say that." She kissed the top of my head. "I know that it's tough right now, but nothing in life is easy. You want love and I hope that that happens for you and Sammy, but love isn't the only reason for imprinting."

"Stronger next generation of wolves?" I guessed and Mom let out a laugh. "Where do you come up with these things, young lady?"

"It's not?" I asked.

"Maybe it is, I'm not saying it's not. But I know that imprinting is much more than just happily ever afters. It's a protective bond, too. Imprinting saved my life, stopped the Pack from fighting the Cullens and most likely all dying, and forced a lot of the tribe's prejudices to disapate." Mom said confidently. "If your father and I hadn't of worked out and I had decided not to love him back, I think that the imprint still would have happened for a reason. But, the truth is, I'm glad that my Jacob imprinted on me. We might have a lot of dark history, but we also have such a bright future ahead of us still."

I nodded, mulling everything that I had just learned over in my mind.

"So, what do you say? You want to give this boy a chance to at least explain himself?" Mom asked.

I nodded, took a deep breath, counted to ten, took another deep breath, and finally stood up. I made it all the way to my bedroom door before I chickened out. "I can't do it, Mom." I said into the door frame.

"It's okay, you don't have to talk to him tonight...but you promised your father that you would go to school tomorrow so, if I were you, I'd have this talk right now in private instead of in front of all of your classmates tomorrow." Again with the logic. I smiled weakly at my mother and opened the door.

Each step I took towards my imprint pulled at my heart. I could feel happiness bubbling up inside of me just thinking about the fact that I would be able to see Sammy in a few seconds. I had been nervous before, scared almost, but right now I didn't care if he told me that he never wanted to see me again. He was mine for these few minutes I got with him. I mean, he was the one to come find me, right? That had to be good news, right?

A smile broke across my face as I rounded the corner and took in the sight of my imprint...until I saw the expression on his face.

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><p><strong>AN: I know this wasn't the chapter you all were expecting, but Sammy's POV is going to be next chapter since I felt like it needed to be set up more. Thank you for all of the reviews and letting me hear all of your thoughts on the matter. I promise to post the next chapter as quickly as I can!<strong>


	16. Sammy's POV: Imprinting on Mary

**AN: Suuuuper long chapter for your patience and your reviews...and for the fact that I probably won't be doing too many of Sammy's POV chapters and he had a lot to tell lol. **

**Enjoy and let me know what you think about Mary's imprint. Also, try not to hate him before reading the entire chapter, since I know that he seems easy to hate (or, at least, that's the gyst I'm getting from you all so far). **

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><p>Sammy's POV (Friday Night)<p>

By time the Welcome Home Bonfire came around, I was still sore from losing the track heat. I knew I shouldn't have lost my cool and accused her of cheating, but I had a reputation to protect. It was easier to blame her than to accept that she might be better than me. _I_ was the superior of the species, not her. I figured it was time to set the record straight for her, real nicely, but then this morning JJ phased.

We found him whimpering in the middle of the forest, having run around in circles scared out of his mind about being a wolf. God, the kid was barely thirteen! He was a baby still! And that made me, and the other boys in the Pack, angry. It was too soon for him. Much too soon. If the vamps hadn't moved back, it wouldn't have happened for a couple more years, if at all.

'Nicely' was going to have to wait. She needed to get scared off so that she and her little family would move back to wherever the hell they came from. The Rez was _our_ home, not hers. She might have pretended that this was where her roots were, but she would never be accepted here. And the sooner she realized that, the sooner we could move on with our lives.

If she had just backed off and sat back with the girls, it might have been easier to accept her for what she was. But pushing the envelope to prove she belongs, when she clearly doesn't, didn't help her case. Pushing into our lives like she owned the place...who did she think she was? The Cullens might have been rich but here on the Rez money doesn't matter. She was too different to ever be accepted, no matter how many times her parents told her otherwise. And she needed to be taught that lesson one way or the other.

She was a freak. Simple as that.

I figured the bonfire was as good a time as any to let her in on that information. Peter and Greg wanted to talk it out, but I could tell that JJ and Tanner were itching for a fight. Or, at least, JJ was. The kid wanted her to _pay_ for ruining his life. Even if it meant taking hers.

She was standing by Robin in front of the beat up green four-door that ironically belonged to the Greene family. Robin spotted me, whispered something to her and those wide doe eyes turned to glance at me for a second. She looked afraid, for the briefest of seconds. Good. Time to rattle up the freak.

Greg and Peter flanked me with Tanner and JJ standing behind them. It was both to protect newly phased JJ and to assert the Pack prodecal to the young wolf. He had to respect chain of command. And, even though this was his fight, I had to be the one to initiate it.

"Hey there, _Mary_." I said, using her name for the first time. It felt strange on my lips, like a virus or something infectious. I just couldn't tell if this was a good or bad thing.

"Hi, guys." She replied, her voice nothing more than a sound in the wind. But her eyes, they told a different story. She was sizing each of us up.

The small chit-chat continued peacefully, until she asked JJ when he phased. I knew nothing would get past the bloodsucker. So she had noticed the difference in young JJ. His whole body was shaking with rage when he answered. "What do you care? This is what you wanted, isn't it? To come back here so you could ruin everyone's lives just like your mother did!"

Now, I understood where he was coming from, but it seemed like a low blow to bring up her mom when our fight was with her alone. _She_ was the one who was an unknown threat. _Her_ close proximity was what caused JJ at only a month into his thirteenth year to phase when he could have had two or three more years outside of Pack life. It was _her_ fault that Jacob abandoned our fathers' Pack and forced my father to take over once again, despite the fact that my mother wanted him to give up his wolf for her so they could start a new life. It was _her_ fault that my mother would die long before my father because he had been forced to keep phasing. It was_ her_ fault for being born.

She fought with JJ over Jacob abandoning the Pack and imprinting on the enemy. Nothing was shocking since most of the Pack felt that way towards our new Alpha. In my mind, he gave up his rights a long time ago when he chose his family over our families. And now, he came back right when I was finally able to relieve my father.

Then JJ said the one thing that even I didn't expect, though I knew the rumor from back when Jared Senior was in the Pack. "I bet he didn't even imprint! I bet he _made it all up_ so that he could abandon the Pack like our dads all knew he wanted to anyways."

Rumor had it, her mother getting imprinted on was a ploy by the feel-good vampire that they kept around. Everyone suspected as much when ALL of the Cullens continued to live in Forks to "make it easier for Jacob to see the Loch Ness Monster." I mean, by the time he was ready to take over as Alpha, she was suddenly of age and found pregnant and the Cullens all rushed away. Their little trick worked too well. He had fallen in love with the one who was supposed to destroy the Pack. Now it was up to their demon spawn to do the job, I suppose. Why else would they move back once she was of fighting age?

"Say whatever you want about me...but do not make up lies about my family." The creature hissed, her body leaning forward in attack mode.

"I think you guys should calm down..." Robin said at the same time that Peter spoke up. "Yeah, JJ, we can talk about this later..." Peter spoke up.

"What's wrong, Greene?" I taunted Peter. He had been sticking up for the freak way too much lately. I understood that they were family and all, but we were his real family, not some misfit. "Scared that he'll phase?"

"Not _him_. I'm afraid _she_ will." Robin said, even though I hadn't been talking to her. It took a split second before she lunged forward, her eyes no long the earthy brown color but a sickeningly deep crimson color. "Mary, _no_!"

JJ phased, nearly taking my little brother out with his giant paws. I knew bringing him was a bad idea. But he had insisted that he could handle it.

There was nothing to do now but join him. I nodded to the others and they phased, minus Tanner who ran towards the adults like the child he was and Robin who couldn't phase and was running for her own life from her monsterous cousin. Good! The little freak was flashing her razor sharp teeth at defenseless Jared, who was now shaking in his overgrown paws. I didn't realize why until I was phased myself.

_Be very afraid._ The creature taunted from inside the Packmind, and I looked up at her nausiating red eyes...and did a double take. She was stunning in that yellow sundress, looking like a goddess come to earth, and I wondered why I hadn't noticed before. Her eyes, though still crimson, were more like roses than blood. I felt a shift in the planet, my world aligning to make her the center of it, and I stared at her through shocked eyes. So this is what imprinting feels like. None of our generation had experienced it for themselves, only the distant memories of the former Packmates. Wow was it incredible.

_Sh-._ I started to swear, but caught myself. There was a lady present, afterall.

_Yeah. I'm in the Packmind_. Mary said, her voice sounding clearer than when spoken aloud and I was hung up on every word...until I realized what she was doing.

This little mynx was trying to lull me in with her betwixing powers like her mother had done to the rightful Alpha when the time was right. How could I have fallen for it, even for a second? I wouldn't let her trick me the same way that Jacob had been suckered in. Even though I felt the pull, I knew it wasn't imprinting. How could the fates have messed up twice? First with Jacob and now with me? It was highly unlikely. I was next in line, so it only made sense that the half-breed would try to control _me_ now. It was unnatural for a vampire and a werewolf to get along, let alone be soul mates. This was all just another one of their freaky vampire abilities...and she was going to pay for trying to mess with my emotions.

_How is this even possible? You're a vamp!_ JJ asked her, though I knew how. It was another way to infultrate the Pack to bring about our distruction. Not under my watch. I would die before I ever let that happen...but hopefully I'd be able to take her down first.

_You should be _very_ afraid._ She threatened, stepping closer to JJ. She was close enough to strike, so I edged him back behind me and puffed out my chest. _My fight isn't with you, Sammy. Back away from the runt. He insulted my family. He must pay for that. _

I wanted to point out that her family was the cause of all of the trouble to begin with, but I couldn't physically say the words. Her power over me was strong.

_You know that I can't let you fight him._ I responded, a little twinkle in my eyes as I noticed that she seemed to be affected by me as well. Did she fall for her own trap? It seemed she must have miscalculated something. _JJ is a new wolf. You really expect him to control his temper... _

_Like you do?_ She asked, finally getting the fact that I wasn't falling for her tricks, that I my own mind and wasn't going to be manipulated by her. She replayed the image of me phasing four days ago:face red as a cherry, fists clenched tightly, clothes shredded on the blacktop, fuzzy tail disappearing into the trees. I growled at the pathetic image. So that was her new tactic: fighting dirty. Well, two could play that way.

_That's not the same thing._ _Besides, I don't see _you_ in control of yourself right now._

_Sammy, I don't think you should push her... _Peter said and before I could tell him to butt out, she spoke up for me.

_Stay out of this, Pete. Or you'll be next._ She hissed. _My fight isn't with anyone but JJ. _He_ insulted my family._

_He might have said it to your face...but don't you think that we all feel the same way?_ _You don't belong here, Cullen. _I was through playing games. Pain flashed across her face and a feeling formed in the pit of my stomach that I couldn't shake. It physically hurt me to say mean things to her. But it had to be done.

_Cullen-Black. I'm a Black as much as I am a Cullen. I'm a Black as much as Peter is._ _Even_ more so_, since it is his mother that carries that particular bloodline gene and my father. You know, my_ father_? The _Alpha_? It was no mistake that my father imprinted or that I was born. If imprinting is about building a stronger generation of wolves, then what better way than to have _me_?_

Did she really expect me to accept her just because of that? She was inside of my head already! The way she said 'imprinting' let me know that she did.

_You can't seriously believe that_. I_ am the next Alpha. There's no way that I'll _ever_ let you take that from me. _I said honestly, I could see it in her eyes that she was willing to do whatever it took to protect herself. Good. I was willing to do whatever it took to protect this tribe from her. Again, the pain in my stomach worsened.

We tumbled together: her claws trying to embed themselves into my skin, her teeth pulling back patches of my fur, me knocking her back a few feet each time-knowing that she was trying to go in for the kill. I would have had her if the fight had lasted longer. But forty-two seconds just wasn't enough. Before I knew it, Jacob, Leah, Seth, and Embry were phased and in the small clearing with us. I knew we were in trouble now.

_Enough! _Jacob Black ordered and our fighting instantly stopped. _I will not have my Pack fighting each other._ _You could have hurt each other! Do you think that this is how we are supposed to act? NO! Sammy, JJ, you will both pull double shifts for a week to make up for all of the hurtful things that you've said. And for provoking Mary. _

JJ tried to protest, but I knew it was useless. He would always protect his spawn over us. It was part of the "imprint" bond that Nessie had over him.

_No but's. You all knew how difficult it was for her. And I've given you more than enough warnings, Samuel._ I knew that he heard my thoughts, so I shrunk back in fear instinctively.

_What about her?_ _She was the one who started this. _I growled, unable to stand the silence any longer. I wanted her out of my sight before I tried to kill her again. Her power over me was causing conflicting emotions inside of me and I just wanted her gone from my sight.

Jacob ordered her to phase back and it was astounding to see her eyes instantly change back to the warm earthy color that I was used to. I spotted a few specks of gold in them that I had never noticed before, but scolded myself for noticing such a thing. No matter what power she had over me, she wasn't my real imprint. I needed to get that thought out of my system before her control on me got stronger.

As I suspected, the mighty Alpha banned us all from phasing except when on patrol. This order was made mostly for JJ's benefit, but I could see him giving me an extra glare when he said it. The younger wolves let out tiny whimpers, but I didn't care. I was too distracted by Mary spitting a chunk of my black fur from her delicate mouth. She looked so scared and innocent when she did that that for a second I believed that she could be my soul mate. I shot it down as quickly as the thought crossed my mind, though. It was a sick joke by the gods if this were true.

_Now, go get out of my sight before I order you all to appologize to every member of the female race for the rude things you said to my daughter._ I could tell by the expression in his eyes that he was seriously debating it and I didn't want to stick around to find out.

We headed off towards the beach where our parents were waiting with spare clothes from our cars. I took my shorts from my mother's hands and shrank under the frosty glare she was giving me. If Dad didn't chew me out for fighting, I knew that my mother would. At forty-five, her hair just beginning to grey, I was still more afraid of her than my physically-fit father.

"You're in tro-ouble!" Sally taunted as I headed in the direction of the woods, a few hundred feet from where our encounter just happened. I rolled my eyes at my little sister. I don't know if it was because she was five or the youngest of my siblings or only one of two sisters that I had and Emmie was more like one of the boys; but Sally had always been the most annoying person in my life.

When I was phased back to human and wearing the one size too small kakis, I headed towards the family mini van. I took my usual spot in the back by Tanner and one of the eight year old twins. Usually Johnny fought for the spot in the back by the "big boys" but tonight it was Jessy on my right. Johnny was in the middle of ten year old Emmie and five year old Sally. I felt for the kid.

"Everyone in?" Dad called from the driver's seat and even though we let out a chorus of "yeah's," Mom still turned around to count heads.

The ride home was quiet, for once in my entire life, and I looked at Tanner for an explaination...but he wouldn't meet my gaze. Oh, crap. I was going to be in trouble. All by myself, too. I understood, since Tan hadn't actually been a part of the fight that the 'rents wouldn't punish him, but usually we were such a package deal that it didn't matter.

I tried to sneak off to my room as we piled into the house, but Dad stopped me by putting his hand on my shoulder. Even though he was as old as my mother, his face was still just barely in his thirties. I could see the worry lines on his face, though.

"Son, we need to talk." He said in a sturdy voice. I couldn't do anything but nod. Even though he was no longer my Alpha, he was still my father and there was no way that I could resist any request he had.

Mom came to join us in the living room a few minutes later, after Sally and the twins had been tucked into bed and Emmie and Tanner had been sent to their rooms as well. She looked tired, more emotionally than physically. And I felt awful for causing my parents any more stress.

"I'm sorry I lost my temper." I said as soon as we were all settled in our seats. I was in the Lazy-boy chair across from the tv, next to the giant L-shaped couch where my parents were sitting huddled together on the edge.

Dad let out a long sigh. "Jacob Black had a talk with me the other day. About your dark thoughts towards his daughter." A look to my mother. "You know, if you had killed the Alpha's daughter, we wouldn't be able to protect you."

"I wouldn't actually kill her." I said defensively, crossing my arms over my still bare chest. And for the first time, it was actually a true statement. Truth was, I doubted that I could actually have hurt her during our fight because of the power she has over me. Though we fought, I knew that neither of us was actually capable of doing any damage. She got a few swipes at me with her teeth, but I never struck her. I wasn't sure that I could. It hurt just thinking about it, actually.

"But why would you think those things, honey?" Mom asked, her scars the only thing that I was looking at. I could have done that to Mary's pretty little face.

"They should never have come back." I whispered, terrified at the truth behind it. If the Blacks had never moved back, I would never have imprinted on the enemy.

Dad looked like I had slapped him in the face. "That's it! I don't want to hear another word. You and your little buddies might think that you run this town, but you don't. The Pack is one unit. One unit that includes Jacob and his imprint. And the sooner you accept that, the better."

"And their daughter." I butted in without thinking.

"What?" Dad asked. From the look on his face, I could tell that he was in mid-rant and was upset that I had interrupted him.

"She phases." I offered up just as quietly.

"She's a wolf?" The former Emily Young asked. I sometimes forget that though she's an imprint herself, Dad is no longer a phasing wolf and isn't as privy to Pack information any more and so she doesn't know everything that goes on in my life any more.

"No, I mean, she's in the Packmind and all...but Mary goes vamp when she phases not wolf." I said, pride exhibiting in my tone. I couldn't help but smile when I said her name. Unfortunately, it was something that didn't pass by my parents.

"When did you imprint?" Mom asked, a huge grin across her face. Apparently she didn't care about the fact that Mary turned into a bloodsucking monster whenever she lost her temper.

My cheeks reddened. "It doesn't matter. Mary's not my soul mate. We'd never work out. I'm not even her friend. She hates my guts." I rambled, to convince myself or my parents, I wasn't sure.

"Now that hardly sounds true." Mom responded with a 'I know everything about the success of soul mates because my husband didn't kill me' look.

"Please, Mom, I just don't want to talk about it." I said. "I just want to go to bed since Jacob has me doing patrols every day this week because of that little fight."

Mom glanced at the clock on the VCR and nodded. "Alright, Junior." Her little nickname for me only managed to make me feel like more of a child.

"You know we'll still have to discuss this tomorrow, right?" Dad said in not as much of a questioning tone as a final one.

"Yes, sir." I nodded, heading off to bed where I dreamt of those dark brown eyes and the carefree laugh of the dark haired beauty who put a spell on me.

And the next day, we had that talk without Mom around. Which I guess I was glad for since he really chewed me a new one. On top of having patrols every night, I also had to appologize to Mary on Monday at school in front of the entire class. Dad said he'd have Tanner report back to him if I did it or not. My brother usually wasn't a snitch, that's why I loved him so much, but I knew that he'd follow through on this request.

Saturday passed by agonizingly slow and Sunday was just as irritating. I went to bed each night with a pit in my stomach that had started late some time Friday night. It was like I was being kicked in the stomach over and over again. I thought I might be sick, but whenever I told this to Mom, she just smiled that smug knowing smile and said that a doctor wouldn't help me any.

"Why don't you go see that girl?" Mom suggested instead and someone did a round-about kick in my stomach in response.

By time Monday rolled around, I was like a junkie in need of a fix. Between my dreams and the pain in my stomach, I was desperate for even a look at Mary if it meant that I'd feel better. I had my appology speech written out, clutching it tightly in my hands as I rounded the corner of the school building with my siblings. Emmie walked Sally and the twins over to the Middle School and Tanner and I headed off to the High School.

Tanner ran up ahead, like he usually did, and came back a minute later. "Guess you lucked out, huh?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, annoyed at his krypic remark.

"You don't have to give your speech." Tanner said, a wide grin on his face. "The little freak isn't even here."

I grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him against the wall before I even knew what I was doing. "Don't you _ever_ call her that, you hear?"

"I was only joking." My little brother said, fear written clear across his face. Oh, god, what had I done. I was picking a fight with my flesh and blood over a girl that had gotten inside of my head.

"I'm so sorry." I said, letting him down gently. "I don't know what came over me."

He nodded, but I could see in his eyes that he was still afraid I might hurt him. He scurried off to class and I begrudingly followed behind him. It was torture to sit through school for eight hours after that. And even worse because it was Monday and that meant track practice. I didn't have the heart to run at my full speed, so even Robin beat me during practice. After three matches, I asked coach if I could sit down; the pain in my stomach intensifying.

"What's the matter, Uley?" Gregory teased good-heartedly. "Got cramps?"

But I couldn't even think of a clever response. Everyone knew that I had flipped out on Tanner; it was too small of a school to keep anything a secret. Robin looked like she was the ony one who seemed even a little bit sympathetic towards me. Everyone else just called me a jerk or ignored me completely. I went from head hancho to bottom of the pecking order in one day.

The only way to put myself back on top was to fix the problem. And for that, I would need Mary's help.

Later that night, I decided to go see her. It was the only way for sure that I knew I could get to speak with her alone. I couldn't take the chance of her not going to school again tomorrow. Unfortunately, I'm a giant coward.

I stood on the Black's front step for twenty minutes, debating on whether to knock or ring the doorbell, pathetically listening to the three heartbeats and quiet whispers inside the house. At last, I raised my hand and tapped on the front door.

The Alpha himself answered the door and I groaned inwardly. I was hoping this could be quick and painless. But going through him, I knew that it wasn't going to be. He had 'overprotective papa bear' written all over his face.

"Go away." Jacob Black growled, trying to close the door on my face.

"She a, she skipped track practice today, Mr. Black. Embry wanted me to check on her." I tried not to sound pathetic, but I knew I was. I even called Jacob "Mr. Black." I mean, I had great respect for the man, don't get me wrong, but I had never called him that before a day in my life.

"At eleven o'clock at night?" Jacob asked in disbelief, anger clear across his face.

"Please, just let me see her real quick." I said, trying to slip past him. When he held up his hand, an angry whine escaped my mouth. Didn't he understand that I had to see her?

"And why should I do that, young man? You made my daughter cry for four days. Do you know what I want to do to you right now?" He growled and I gulped. She cried over me? I felt that kick in my gut again. But he wasn't finished. "Let me tell you, it isn't pretty. In fact, if it were up to me, I'd be having you on patrol 'round the clock until the end of eternity."

"I understand that, sir. But, I need to just_ see_ her for a second, okay?" I wanted to push past him and run to his preteen daughter's room...until I realized how creepy that sounded. I was sixteen and she was a month shy of fourteen. Though the difference wasn't huge, it was still pretty creepy. Another reason that we shouldn't have any "soul mate" bond going on.

"Jake, who's there?" Nessie asked, the paleface who captured the Alpha's heart from birth. "Oh." She said when she spotted me.

"Please, just let me see her for a second. Then I'll leave, I swear." I was in physical pain from being so close to her without actually being _close_ to her. I could hear her thuttering heartbeat and smell that rich jasmine scent that I had been obsessing over for the last four days in my dreams.

I needed to talk to her and make her take it back. This imprint or whatever didn't make any sense. How could she be perfect for me when just the thought of her made me want to fight a coven of vampires. She was every thing that the tribe fought so hard to keep off of our lands. Yet, all I wanted to do was protect her from my Pack brothers. She was making me crazy!

"Let me go ask Mary what she wants to do about this." Nessie said and then she disappeared. Even though I could locate Mary just by her heartbeat alone, I watched Renesmee walk down the entire length of the hallway and slip behind a door. I waited nervously for what seemed like literal eternity until finally, Mary emerged from behind closed doors.

I fought back an ear-splitting grin as much as I could and put on a grimace instead. It pained me to do so and my face twisted into an even worse expression. I couldn't help it; as much as it went against everything that I believed in, I was happy to see my phasing vampire.

She looked adorable in what I assumed were her pajamas: black tanktop and loose-fitting pale green pants with black wolves on them. I instantly thought of how it reminded me of me...and then I felt strange for thinking about myself when I looked at her pants. What the hell was wrong with me? It wasn't that I was thinking about being in her pants or anything (the girl was jailbait!), but it was the fact that I was hoping that she wore pj's that reminded her of me.

"Um, hi, Sammy." Mary said nervously, tucking a piece of her long curly black ringlets behind her left ear.

"Hi, Mary." I said, allowing her name to roll naturally off of my tongue. I was right Friday when I said her name was infectious. I wanted to say it over and over again.

_No, be strong, Samuel._ I thought to myself. _She betwixt you. It isn't real._

"Daddy?" Those big brown eyes looked towards our Alpha and, despite all of the power and authority he had, he was putty in her small hands. "Can you give us a minute?"

He looked like he wanted to add something menicing to me, but he just let out a sigh instead. "I'll be in my room if you need me, honey."

Mary embraced him in a quick hug, stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek, and whispered, "thank you, Daddy" in his ear.

"Sammy, I want you done with your conversation by eleven-thirty." My Alpha said in a nononesense voice. "It's a school night."

"Yes, sir." I couldn't keep her from sleep since I was the one who woke her up in the first place.

"Daaaad!" Mary whined and I smiled in spite of myself.

"Goodnight, Mary-beary." The Alpha said, a smirk on his lips when her cheeks flushed in embarassment. But he left us alone, closing the door to his bedroom behind him.

"Sometimes I think parents are put on this earth solely to embarass their children." Mary said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, my dad's the same way." I agreed lightly.

We stood in silence for over a whole minute, letting the awkwardness of the situation overwhelm us.

"So, uh, what did you want to say?" Mary said at last, looking up at me from behind her thick dark lashes. She looked almost Quileute when she did that. I had seen Robin Greene make that exact look before with those same dark eyes.

"I want you to release me." I spit out the words. Like ripping off a band-aid. My chest felt like it had a giant hole in it when I uttered the words, but I knew it was part of her trick.

"I don't understand?" Mary said, looking me straight in the eyes, confusion written clearly across her face.

"From whatever spell you put on me. I want it gone, Mary." I said a little angrily. Now she was toying with me.

"You think I put a _spell_ on you?" Mary asked in disbelief. "I'm not a wizard or anything, Sammy." Now _she_ was angry. "I can't believe that's what you thought. You hate me so much that you made up a rediculus senerio to explain away imprinting. Unbelievable!" She threw her hands up in the air in a universal 'I give up' motion. It was kind of adorable.

"I don't hate you..." I said quietly. "but that's the problem."

Mary looked like she was going to cry.

"Shhh, don't cry, please, Mary, don't cry." I said, the pit in my stomach forming again, my anger fully disapated. "Don't you see, though? I'm no good for you and you're not right for me. If it was imprinting, don't you think that we'd have better suited soul mates? I think that whatever power your uncle had, maybe you had it too. Maybe you didn't even mean to bind me to you. Maybe during the fight, you saw that you were outnumbered and unconsciously pulled me on your team..."

Because if it was imprinting, I would have felt it before our fight. I would have imprinted on her long before I did.

"You're crazy!" Mary said in a loud whisper. I could tell that she didn't want her parents to know what was going on, so I lowered my voice too instinctively.

"It makes sense, though!" I shout-whispered back. "The fates screwed up if this is imprinting. I mean, me protect a vampire and eventually try to have children with her? Now _that_ doesn't make any sense. Wolves were created to make more wolves, not wolf-vampires."

"You really hate me, don't you?" She asked quietly and my heart broke.

"It's not that...you're just so_ different_ from me. I don't understand how this could happen." I said honestly, rambling because the thought of her hurting because of me hurt me. "I mean, one minute you were this new girl who was invading my territory and you've got every right to be here because of your dad but I just...we never wanted change. The Pack, I mean. Everyone was all set to have me take over for my father and then Jacob comes back and_ you're_ there. The one person who solidifies Jacob's imprint and the fact that he left his people for a bunch of leec-um, Cullens...and you want to be fully accepted. Which I get, you know, because no one _wants_ to be alone. But,_ god_, did you make it difficult. You butted into our lives and were just_ there_..."

I was going to continue, but she cut me off. "You're upset that I was there?" She asked, looking every bit as young and vulnerable as she was.

"NO!" I said, but lying to my imprint hurt too. "I mean, yes, I was. But I...I was jealous of you, okay?"

This little truth caught her off guard. "Jealous?"

"You were Jacob Black's daughter. You were a Cullen. You had money and power and love from the dozen vampires around you. And you never had to fight for anything in your life: attention, affection, your tribe, your_ life_." I said, admitting things to her that I hadn't uttered to anyone before. This was stuff that I kept hidden when phased because I was too afraid to let anyone in on my secrets.

"It isn't all sunshine and rainbows being a Cullen." Mary said, startling me. "You want to know the truth? I hate that I'm not more human. I hate that I'm not full vampire or a wolf like my father or even half vampire like my mother. I don't fit in with anyone. At least you belong in the Pack and on the Rez."

"I might belong, but I hate that I do." I said, honestly.

"What could you hate about all of that?" She asked, her doe eyes starring at me, looking every bit as innocent as Bambi's little friend.

"I hate patrolling." I said in a quiet voice, afraid that our Alpha would overhear my deepest confession. "I hate that I phase into a giant wolf whenever I lose my temper even slightly. I hate having people in Forks staring at me because they think I'm in a gang or hooked on drugs becausse they don't understand. I hate that I'll never grow old and die, or if I do, it will be at a time when I should have passed long before. I hate protecting the stupid tribe from vampires even more than I hate vampires. I hate that I can never have a moment to myself because of my Pack brothers always tagging along. I hate that I have no free will over my life. I hate that my father scarred my mother because of what we are and that nothing could ever erase her pain. I _hate_ that my mother accepts it. I hate with every fiber in my being that I'm never going to get off this reservation and that my children will have the same fate."

"But, no," I said, looking her deep in the eyes now that I had cleared my chest. "I've never really hated you. As the leader, it was my job to scare you off, you know? It was wrong of us to tease you and I'm sorry...but you are a threat to this tribe and it goes against everything that we believe in having you here. Your mother is half-vampire...but you're a full Newborn whenever you phase. And that scares the crap out of us. You must see that we had no choice?"

"Everyone has a choice." Mary responded after a minute. My heart sunk. She wasn't going to accept my apology. Didn't she see that I was trying? That this was really difficult for me?

"Imprinting took all of that away, remember?" I asked, angry at myself again for causing a hurt look to cross her face. God, this girl was screwing with my emotions by having her own.

"So you admit that it's imprinting?" Mary asked, clearly missing the point. But I let it slide because of the happy grin on her lips. It was contagious and I mirrored her for a second.

"You got me." I admitted, letting out a tense laugh. The more time I spent with her, the more that I knew it was true. It still didn't make any sense that she would be my soul mate, but I felt deep in my bones that it was true. "Put the shackles on and let's get on with this."

"You don't have to be my protector or whatever..." Mary said quickly and I raised an eyebrow at her in disbelief. After all of this, she was going to blow me off? "And god knows that ever being a mate is out of the question because, obviously, the thought of me being the main person in your life disgusts you...but is it too much to ask for us to be friends?" Mary asked desperately, though I could tell she was trying not to seem pathetic.

"You just want to be friends?" I asked to make sure. That sounded reasonable. I mean, she was two years younger than I was. There was not a single romantic feeling that I held for her. Not that I had ever really liked _any_ girl for that matter, but still.

"I don't know how to do that." Mary said, looking a little embarrassed. When I raised an eyebrow of confusion, she continued. "Every other imprint couple that we know didn't try to stay friends. I'm not really sure what the 'magic words' are that could keep us that way."

"Mary Black, will you be my friend forever?" I asked, a twinkle in my eyes. "Did that work, do ya think?"

"Works for me." She let out a throaty laugh, her head tilting back as she threw all of her emotions into the movement. When she finished, she looked me square in the eyes. "I will gladly be your friend forever, Sammy Uley."

I never in a million years thought that today would end up like it did.


	17. Friends

_Previously:_

_"Mary Black, will you be my friend forever?" _

_"I will gladly be your friend forever, Sammy Uley."_

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><p>I woke up Tuesday morning giddy. Sammy agreed to be my friend last night! Unless it was all a dream and then I was going to cry. No, but it couldn't have been: my heart didn't feel weighed down and there was a smile on my face that I couldn't contain if I wanted to.<p>

"You're awful chipper this morning." Nessie said as I kissed her cheek and took my seat at the breakfast table. "It couldn't have anything to do with your guest last night, could it?" Even though she was teasing me, I didn't care.

I nodded. "Uh-huh. Sammy and I agreed to be friends. Which is a big step for him since he like hates vampires and stuff. I'm actually kind of proud that he accepted it."

A smile lit up my mother's face. "That's great, honey! This is what you wanted, right? Just some friends?"

I nodded again. "I know that having Sammy on my side might change some of the other guys' attitudes towards me, too. He's the leader and with him acting friendly towards me, maybe by time my birthday rolls around, I'll actually have some guests to invite."

"Your birthday isn't for another month, I don't want you to get too excited about it just yet." Mom said. "You're growing up quick enough, young lady. Enjoy it while it lasts."

"But everyone is coming into town, right? And that means an Aunt Alice extrodinair! I bet the Rez kids haven't gone to a party like mine will be before. It'll be great!" I said, grinning at the thought of my last few over the top birthdays. I missed my crazy aunts and uncles. And, especially, my grandparents.

A sad look crossed Mom's face but it was gone long before I could ask her what was wrong. "Here, eat your oatmeal. You've got a big day today." She heaped a giant portion onto my plate and added twice as much to Dad's plate.

"Where's Daddy?" I asked. Usually whenever there was food on the table, he was right here with it.

"He had to go deal with some Pack business early this morning. Don't worry, though." Mom smirked. "He'll be here before the food cools."

And he was. By the time I was a quarter of the way finished with my food, Dad was back.

"Guess what, Daddy?" I asked, not able to contain myself. "Sammy's going to be my friend now!"

"That's great, sweetie." A look to my mother that I didn't understand. "Better finish eating or you'll be late for school."

I did as I was told, trying to shake off the feeling that my parents were hiding something from me, and got ready for school. For the first time since moving here, I was actually looking forward to going to school. Mom and Dad both drove me to school this morning (which was weird) but I didn't complain. Nothing strange could throw me off today. I was over the moon.

As soon as I entered the school buiding, I felt like everything had changed for the better. The walls seemed cleaner, the lockers seemed blue-er, and the atmosphere seemed ten times happier. I spotted Sammy from across the hallway and he grinned at me. I smiled back, even though all of the little Pack boys were now giving both of us strange looks. I was about to walk over and say something to him when I was interrupted.

"So I guess it's true, then." Gretchen said, coming up beside me in the hallway. I hadn't had a chance to talk to Robin about the changes with my imprint yet and I didn't really want to talk to anyone about it until then. But my friend had sought me out. And though I could now count Sammy as one of my friends, I still needed all of the friends I could get.

"What's true?" I asked, having a feeling I knew what she was talking about, but asking to make sure.

"That he finally imprinted." Gretchen said, a sour tone to her voice. That was when I remembered that my friend had been crushing on my imprint since long before I moved here.

"Oh, Gretch, I'm sorry." I said, honestly sympathetic even though I couldn't keep the grin off of my face. "But, yeah, I imprinted on him at the Bonfire."

"Whatever." Gretchen said, holding her head up high and lying through her teeth. "I didn't really like him anyways."

I was saved from this awkward conversation by the bell. We both headed off to class and took our usual seats.

I focused on the lesson Embry taught as best as I could. Really, I did. But I was more than well aware that the entire back row of boys was staring at me. One pair of eyes in particular made it difficult to focus.

About halfway through class, Robin handed me a note with a huge grin on her face. I opened it in surprise. It wasn't my cousin's large bubble letter handwriting like I expected. It was tiny and smushed and could only belong to a boy.

_'Mary, _

_Me and some of the boys are gonna sit with you at lunch. If that's okay?_

_-Sammy'_

I smiled down at the note to myself before turning around in my seat and meeting Sammy's gaze. I mouthed "yes" to him and he shot me a cheeky grin.

"Ms. Black, I'm sure whatever's going on in the back of the class is not half as important as my lesson." Embry said, causing a ripple of laughter in the room. My cheeks flushed and I turned back around quickly. I stuffed my note from Sammy in my pocket and tried my very best to look like I was paying attention. But really, I was counting down the minutes until lunch.

Sammy, as promised, set his lunch tray down across from me at the giant picnic table that Robin, Gretchen, Diana, and I usually occupied alone. Gregory sat opposite his sister, Peter across from his, and Tanner sat next to his brother and across from Diana.

Greg and Peter seemed genuinely happy to be there. I knew that my cousin felt a lot less guilty accepting me now that his mini-Alpha did. I'm glad his struggles were finally over. Tanner, on the other hand, looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. And JJ literally was. I didn't see the recent Pack recruit anywhere.

As if reading my thoughts, Sammy answered my unasked question. "He decided to eat lunch in the classroom today." There was tension in his voice and I couldn't tell if it was because JJ had said something to him or what. I didn't much care what JJ thought.

I smiled as conversation picked back up around the table. We seemed to be able to get along quite well, despite the last two weeks proving otherwise. I was suddenly beyond excited for my birthday party now. I actually had guests!


	18. Shocking Revelation!

**All of you have been wondering what has been bothering Mary's parents...well, you're about to find out! Let me know what you think. I try to be original in my story plot and I have yet to read a story where this happens (even though I've always suspected that it should). Love getting reviews from you guys! :D**

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><p>For the next month, everything seemed to be going my way. Sammy and I became close friends at school and he even came over a couple of times on the weekends. Tanner loosened up <em>a little bit <em>around me. And I could say that Peter and Greg were honestly good friends of mine. It took me a while to remember it, but Greg hadn't said a single thing negative about me the entire time I knew him. He was simply following the Uley boys like my cousin had been.

Dad was cautious about my new friendships since they were all wolves, but since he had the 'no phasing unless on patrol' order still in affect, I didn't think that he should have been as overprotective as he was. I don't know what has gotten into my parents, but they've been acting strangely since the Bonfire and whenever I mentioned my birthday and all of the guests I was going to have, they changed the subject as soon as they could. Like I said, super weird.

But I wasn't going to let anything stop me from having the best fourteenth birthday party ever.

Even Gretchen and I had patched things up just in time for my birthday. She had been distant from me since I imprinted on her crush but in the last week, she'd come around again. She even admitted that she was starting to have feelings for my cousin who I thought of like a brother. Can you believe that? It was so strange to have that conversation with her and Robin. I mean, I don't know how Robin took it since Peter's her _actual_ brother, but I was kind of nauseated just thinking about him as an option for dating. He was Peter! I bet she'd feel just as weird if I had that conversation with her about Greg, but that was far from likely. Even though we were just friends, I had Sammy. I didn't think I could ever find anyone that I wanted to spend time with like I did with him.

The only one who wasn't on my side was JJ. I felt bad for him. Really, I did. But he was kind of responsible for his lack of friends. He was the one who, according to Robin's gossip, told Sammy that he had to choose who his real friends were: wolves like JJ or a vampire like me. Needless to say, the kid got his answer when the entire mini-Pack continued to sit at lunch with me and the girls.

I felt awful about that. If it weren't for me and my mom coming back into town, I doubt that JJ would have phased so early. I tried to throw him a bone by trying to tell Sammy and the boys to sit with JJ once a week, but Sammy held strong. "He eats with all of us or no one at all." He told me one day when I brought it up for the umpteenth time. That settled any dispute I had.

Now I was just waiting for my parents to give me the okay to invite everyone. That meant talking with Aunt Alice about my party plans first.

"When is everybody flying in?" I asked excitedly over breakfast. It was now officially a week before my birthday and I couldn't wait to see my vampire side of the family. Though I loved Grandpa Billy and Aunt Rachel and Uncle Paul and Grandpa Charlie, I missed my mom's side of the family, too. They usually all started arriving in the beginning of my birthday week, but no one was here this morning so I was starting to get anxious.

"Honey, we need to talk." Dad said so seriously that I set down my spoon still full of Lucky Charms.

"What's wrong?" I asked, my heart plummetting into my stomach. "Don't tell me that they're not coming." I said, panic in my voice. It just wasn't a birthday without everyone I loved here. Last year felt strange without Rosalie and Emmett. But if no one could come? I doubt I'd even celebrate my birthday.

"Your Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Emmett..." Mom began, but she looked too choked up to continue. Dad patted her back soothingly, though I knew it wasn't helping to calm her right now. Whatever was bothering her was BIG.

"What is it? Can they not make it again?" Now they had me worried. I hadn't heard from that set of aunt and uncle since I turned twelve. Mom always said that they were traveling the world and couldn't be bothered to answer a phone. But now, suddenly, that seemed like it was a lie. But why would my parents lie to me for two years?

"Rose always wanted a baby...and I thought that Ness' birth had satisfied that since she got to be so involved...and then when you were born, that seemed to not be the case any more. She was desperate to have a child and everyone knew it." Dad said, going completely off topic. I thought we were talking about my birthday, not Rose's obsession with being a mother. Though Daddy and my aunt had never been super close, they always got along because of my mother and me.

"But Aunt Rose can't have children." I stated matter-of-factly. None of my female family members could reproduce. It was true of my mother, too, now that she was fully grown.

"Not physically." Mom whispered. "But you and I now have a cousin..."

"I don't understand?" I said, finally giving up. If they wanted to tell me their news, they would have to actually tell me.

Mom looked at Dad for help. He took a deep breath and looked at me.

"Rose bit a child, Mary. Turned her into a vampire one day when your uncle was hunting." Dad explained. "Emmett had no idea that she had been planning it at all. He gets home and she says to him, "come meet your daughter." And the girl is in there thrashing around, going through the transformation in their bedroom in a little town outside of London. They haven't left that house since. Carlisle has visited periodically, but no one else was told about the child until a month ago. We honeslty had no idea why they hadn't come back to visit. I assumed that they were honeymooning again."

"Gemma was twelve. She was just a child." Mom said desperately. The same age I had been when I last heard from them.

"Is this why you've been weird whenever I talk about my birthday?" I asked in disbelief. They really thought that I cared that we had extra guests?

"Honey, it was a mistake that Rose made to change that girl...a mistake that could probably cost her her life." Dad said slowly, sensing that I still wasn't getting the point.

And then it all came crashing back to me: Aro, the Volturi, immortal children, Mom almost being killed because they thought she was one, Tanya's "mother" Sasha Denali dying for creating an immortal child, the entire Cullen clan and all of the wolves almost fighting to the death because of the rumor. Though I hadn't been there to witness it all personally, I knew the stories. Everyone on the reservation did. Especially the wolves who phased and saw pieces of it from the original Packmind.

"Oh, god." I said, finally getting it. "What do the Volturi know of this?"

"Everything." Mom said, bursting into tears and I along with her, finally understanding and wishing that I didn't.

"What now? What do we do?" I asked, clinging to the hope that my aunt might be allowed to live. A confrontation with the Volturi didn't necessarily mean that Aunt Rose would be punished like Sasha had been.

"Nothing." Nessie said, her voice empty. "We do nothing."

"I don't understand. How can we sit by and do nothing?" I asked.

"They were summoned by Aro to Voltura a month ago. He gave them a deadline to destroy Gemma or he would do it himself." Dad explained. "We've been in contact with Edward who says that Rose refuses to comply. Alice had a vision of Aro visiting the Cullens in a few days' time. All of the Cullens have gathered around Rose and Gemma, preparing to fight for them. Unfortunately, they're on their own. The wolves would be slaughtered if we joined, I know because I checked with Alice. And most of the 'extended family' isn't willing to stand behind an immortal child against the Volturi. Nessie was a different case than this no-win situation that Rose has put them in. Bella is no longer a Newborn and they just don't have enough numbers to stand a good chance."

"We're probably never going to see them again, Mary." Mom whispered, her heart breaking. "Alice doesn't see it ending without casualties. She's only hopeful that they'll be able to take out the Guard along with them."

"I'm going." I said quietly, before I even realized that I had thought it out loud.

"No you're not." Dad said with authority in his voice.

"You said so yourself, they need more people to fight." I replied stubbornly. "I'm a Newborn when phased, remember?"

"That's out of the question." Dad almost growled. "You are not risking your life and that's final."

"It's not a risk, though!" I argued. "I'm more powerful than anyone on our side already, except for maybe Uncle Jasper. Aunt Alice and Grandpa Edward's powers will only help for a split second before someone attacks. Carlisle, Esme, and Bella are completely useless in the physical part of a fight, though Grandma does have the shield. And Rose is only dangerous if someone was physically attacking Gemma. Emmett and Jasper are the only actual fighters in the whole bunch."

"You're hardly a fighter yourself." Dad said with an eye roll.

"But I have strength and speed where the Volturi don't." I said logically. "I can do this, Daddy. I want to help. I can give them a fighting chance!"

"I'm sorry, Mary." He said. "But you're not going."

Now I was angry. Didn't he understand that I could change things? Did he even want me to?

"When your imprint's entire family dies, I hope you know it's your fault!" I yelled, running to my room and slamming the door as loudly as possible.

I could hear my mother's sobs through the wood and wondered why I had done something like that. I had never intentionally hurt one of my parents. In trying to get back at my father, I had just crushed the soul of my loving mother who was already going through so much right now. All I knew for sure was that I wasn't going to sit back and let my family be torn apart. I _had_ to do something. I just hoped my parents would forgive me for it later.


	19. Teenage Runaway

I had never disobeyed my parents. _Ever._

So you can see why I felt torn up about what I was doing. I pushed that thought out of my mind. This was _for_ them. To _help_ them. Because I loved them. And because I knew that if I didn't help, then my mother's entire family would die. I knew it in my bones like I knew that I was going to be fine after all of this. It was such a gut feeling that I wondered for a brief second if I was psychic. But that was ridiculous. I was a phasing vampire, not a psychic. That was Alice's job.

"Last call for Flight 124. I repeat: Flight 124 to London, France now boarding." A voice on the intercom announced. He sounded bored and I wondered if he was at the end of his shift or just starting one. It was four-thirty in the morning.

I jumped out of my non-comfortable plastic seat where I had been sitting in Forks' Airport for the past half hour. I had missed early boarding because my bag was getting checked through security at the time. I had begrudgingly had to wait, though I doubted that there was a single other person on the plane.

It was surprisingly easy to book a flight by myself. Though I was five days shy of my fourteenth birthday, with make-up I looked legal. So in the middle of the night when I decided to take action, I applied some of Mom's blush, mascara, and eyeliner. I had one of her old passports, too, from a couple years ago. Other than the color of our hair and skin color, we looked just alike. I was playing it off as having gotten a tan and dyed my hair. I just hoped that it worked.

No one stopped me except for the man at the final boarding area. I could see the long hallway that meant I was home free and cursed at myself for having caught this guy's attention. He looked mid-thirties-ish and had a rent-a-cop uniform on.

"Vanessa Wolfe?" The ticket-taker asked, looking over my mother's picture again.

"Yup, that's me." I said, trying to sound convincing.

"You look awful young for twenty-one." He said, eying me again with a blush on his cheeks this time.

"Aw, why thank you." I said, hoping that my attempt at flirting wouldn't prove how much younger I really was. "My mother always said that looks were one thing that I'd have to fight to keep. I'm glad to tell her that you just proved her wrong." I lied, letting out a little laugh.

"I'll tell her myself." He said, pulling a walkie-talkie from his side pocket and spoke loudly into it. "A young Vanessa Wolfe has just arrived."

"Ten-four." A voice replied back. "Let her board."

The man nodded, tilted his head for me to follow behind him and on to the plane. I groaned when I saw my mother sitting in first class, a stern look on her face.

"Hi, Mom." I said.

"Mrs. Wolfe, is this your _daughter_?" The security asked, looking doubtfully between the two of us. My mother, looking a young nineteen and me looking nearly the same age.

"I bet you thought we were sisters." Mom said, laying on a thick layer of Cullen charm that I had never mastered. "Thank you for that." She let out a small laugh. "Yes, sir, this is my daughter. VJ was supposed to board with me, but I lost her in the bathroom of all places. Thank goodness you found her before the plane took off!" She looked up at him like he was a hero. Nice touch.

"VJ?" He asked. I think he just wanted an excuse to keep talking to her.

"Vanessa Junior. My husband liked my name so much that we gave it to VJ, too." Mom explained with a flourish, pulling out her current passport that looked only slightly older than the one that I still clutched to my chest.

The guard looked it over and decided that everything looked correct but probably only because our stories were matching up. Two beautiful women couldn't possibly be lying.

"You have a good trip now, miss." He said, heading towards the middle of the plane where we had entered.

I stared at my mother staring at me and bit my lip nervously. I knew that look: I was in trouble.

"How mad is Daddy that I snuck out?" I asked, chewing my bottom lip practically off.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" She replied, pointing to the regular airfare part of the plane, and I let out a groan. Not only had my mother figured out where I was, my father did too. And I doubted that he was happy about it.

I walked back to Coach with my head hung. There was laughter and gentle teasings all around me, but I ignored the Pack members and sought out my father. I could hear my mother's quiet footsteps following behind me.

"I'm sorry." I said automatically. It seemed that since we moved to La Push, all I ever did was apologize to my parents.

Dad stopped his conversation with Leah and turned to face me. "You'd better be sorry, young lady," was his reply and I thought that I was a goner.

Then he smirked. "Buuuut," and I looked up at the change in tone in his voice, "you were right when you said that the Cullens needed more numbers. If you go, we all go."

I took a second to look around the small plane. Jacob had enlisted Leah, Embry, and Seth, all veteran fighters, as well as Sammy, Peter, and Greg.

"Thank you, Daddy." I said, hugging him tightly. "I just couldn't sit back and let my family die without even trying to help. I'm sorry I didn't just ask you to come with me when I decided for sure that I had to do this, but I figured that you'd say no."

"I know, honey." Jacob said. "That's why I called in the troops last night whenever you left the kitchen. You were right. We couldn't sit back and do nothing. The Cullens are family as much as the Pack is."

"Where is everyone else?" I asked, noticing two Pack members not here.

"I asked for volunteers, Mary." Dad said sternly, his eyes on the three young boys behind me. "It's not too late for them to back out. I wouldn't think any less of them if they chose not to fight."

"We're with you, sir." Greg said with conviction. "We've been itching for a fight since joining the Pack."

"Uncle Jake, your family is my family." Peter said enthusiastically. "There's no way that I'd ever sit this one out."

"We couldn't let Mary go unprotected." Sammy responded automatically. "It'll be an honor to fight alongside Pack legends."

Leah and Seth laughed at that. "I'd hardly call us 'legends.'" Leah snorted.

"I don't know, Lee." Embry said, a star struck look in his eyes as he gazed at her. "I think we deserve the title."

As the two of them continued to argue about it, an excuse to flirt if I've ever seen one, I looked back at my father. I knew our conversation wasn't over yet. Even though everyone was standing behind my decision, I knew that running off was going to cost me.

"What's my punishment?" I asked slowly, looking at both of my parents in turn. Dad looked like he was about to dish it out to me, but I held up my hand.

"And before you answer, I know what I did was wrong and I apologize for the way that I got everyone here." I said strongly. "BUT, I feel in my bones that going to help was the right thing to do. I would have done it a hundred times if it meant that we could help the Cullens. For that, I won't apologize."

"When did you grow up so much?" Dad asked, catching me off guard. This was hardly a good way to start off a punishment. "It seems like only yesterday, you were doing whatever we told you and being careful of your opinions. But I look at you today and see a outspoken girl who stands up for what she believes in, no matter who it might offend. You're a teenager now. Congrats, Mary-beary."

"Thank you, Daddy." I responded, not sure what to say. I leaned in to hug him just as the pilot announced that we were ready for take-off and for everyone to please take their seats.

I headed towards the front of the plane where I assumed me and Mom were going to sit, but Dad stopped us before either of us could make it passed his row of seats.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked us both, a wide grin on his face. "I know we usually get First Class when we travel as a family, but the Pack is here and there's just not enough room up there for all of us."

"You sure they won't mind us being back here?" Mom asked quietly, looking more like a child than I did. I had no idea that she was this insecure about the Pack. I knew that she felt uncomfortable with Kim and some of the people at the bonfire, but with the actual Pack? I had always thought imprinting made her comfortable around Dad's people.

"We won't bite." Leah said, having eavesdropped like only the Beta can get away with. She laughed loudly in a teasing tone. "Well, I might. But I'm sure the others will be fine."

"Har-har." Mom said, finally looking a little bit more relaxed.

She took up the seat next to Dad towards the back of the plane, across the aisle from Leah and Embry, with Seth sitting right in front of them. I was right when I said that I didn't think there would be any people on the plane. We were the only ones on board besides the crew.

I left the original wolves alone and sat a dozen rows in front of them by the boys. Sammy, Peter, and Greg were deep in conversation when I joined them, but they didn't stop talking like everyone usually does whenever I approach.

I listened to Greg and Peter strategize about the best way to take out a Volturi member, throwing in helpful information that I knew about the Guard when needed. Sammy, surprisingly, was quiet for most of the plane ride. When we were well over the ocean on our way to London, I finally found out why.

He got up to go to the bathroom, I assumed, but when he headed to First Class instead, I followed him. He was pacing back and forth when I finally caught up to him.

"Don't you ever do that again." He said, sounding angrier than my father had earlier.

"What?" I asked, not believing that I was about to get a lecture from my imprint. I hadn't done anything wrong to him.

His face crumpled, all of the anger leaving as quickly as it had appeared. He looked like he had been through hell. We were close now, his pacing having brought him a foot away from me.

"Please, don't ever do that again." He said, more as a desperate plea than a demand. When I didn't respond, he continued. "You ran away from me."

"No I didn't." I said, shaking my head and feeling my curls hit my face lightly. "I was trying to help my family. I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't even tell me that you were going. I woke up in a sweat, feeling like I had to run, and then I get a call from your dad that said you were missing and he thought he knew where you might be headed. And that I have a choice to go with the Pack or stay behind. He said I had a frickin'_ choice_. As if I would let you leave without me!"

"Shhh, it's okay." I said, noticing that he was about to cry. "I'm right here; you don't have to worry about me any longer." That didn't seem to really help, though.

"Can I-can I hug you?" I asked, uncertain of where our boundaries were since our friendship had only included smiles and hand waves up to this point.

But I could tell that my imprint was about to lose it and I had seen my mother comfort my dad with just a simple hug before. Plus, if he phased, he was big enough as wolf to tear up the front end of this plane. And we were in the middle of the ocean.

He nodded, his arms wrapping around my shoulders and mine around his waist in one fluid motioin. He looked so broken in my arms, though his urge to cry had passed, when he spoke a minute later. "I-I can't lose you, Mary. You're my best friend. Please, don't ever do that again."

"Shhh, I promise." I whispered into his chest since he was a good foot taller than I was. "I promise, Sammy. I won't take off on you ever again."


	20. Ready to Get Off The Plane

**FYI: I know they couldn't realistically be on one plane from Forks to London in a day. But, I've never been on a plane at all, so this is all just fiction to me. Ignore it and enjoy the story? lol. I know this chapter is a bit of a filler, but two chapters in one day! **

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><p>We returned to our seats as soon as I knew that Sammy wasn't going to lose control anymore. He took his seat behind Peter and Greg, motioning for me to sit by him. I think he was having issues with me being far away from him since I had tried to run away without telling him that I was going. I understood that. And I didn't really mind. Because I was happy that my imprint was serious about being my friend. He had even called me his "best" friend. I was fine with that. Actually, I was esctatic.<p>

The four of us kept up a conversation about our expectations of the fight. There were thirty-two members, including the Big Three and two of the wives, against eighteen of us (assuming that Gemma is able to fight). Our odds weren't that good so we needed any advantage we could get. We ripped apart every member's strengths and weaknesses.

Aro, Cauis, and Marcus were not fighters, or at least, I had never heard stories of them taking physical action. The wives may or may not be in attendence so we couldn't count them in or out yet, but they couldn't fight either.

The Volturi had Alec and Jane as their main weapons. Jane's ability to create the allusion of pain can be blocked by Bella's shield as can Alec's ability to take away someone's senses, leaving them numb.

Demetri's tracking ability would not really help him in battle, though he was about Emmett's size physically. Felix is the biggesst physical threat, though, for sure. Renata's was a literal physical attack diversion and Heidi was simply a physical diversion. According to Eleazer's intel when he left the Volturi, there was a guy, Afton, who had not yet developed his mental invisibility. He was like a shield in his mind, which doesn't really help anyone except if he were fighting Alice, Edward, or Jasper.

Honestly, though, the only person that I was afraid of was Chelsea. It was rediculous because I had an imprint and I knew my parents truly loved me, but her ability to manipulate relationships freaks me out. If Gemma isn't totally on our side, she could be used against us. And that would probably kill Aunt Rose.

I must have fallen asleep on the plane some time during the conversation because the next time I was aware of my surroundings, my head was resting on Sammy's shoulder and he was shaking me lightly. It was morning again, now four days from my birthday, and only a day or two away from the Volturi Battle.

"Mary, wake up. We're almost there." He whispered. It was kind of funny because he was waking me up, yet he was keeping his voice down so as not to wake me up.

"I'm up, I'm up." I said, stretching my arms on either side of my head, nearly touching Greg in a very intimate place as he walked towards his seat from the back of the plane. My cheeks instantly colored, my face lit up in mortification.

"Oh, shi-" He said, noticing when I did what I almost just did. "I'm so sorry, Mary. I didn't see you!" He looked panicked, like I might attack him or something.

I laughed it off, my cheeks still pink with embarrassment. "It's no problem. I'm sorry. It was my bad anyways."

That was when I noticed that though the words had been spoken to me, Greg was making eye contact with Sammy. He was appologizing to my imprint for me accidently almost brushing him as I stretched. It wasn't me Greg was afraid of but Sammy.

I turned to Sammy, trying to make it seem like the not big deal that it really wasn't, and nudged him in the ribs. "So, you ready to unboard yet?"

Sammy released Greg's gaze and smiled gently at me, releasing my other friend from a chew-out. Greg scurried back to his seat and suddenly it was just Sammy and me again. He nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready to stretch my legs." His long legs had been cramped up the entire time I was sleeping on his shoulders; I know because I hadn't felt him move once.

"Oh, gosh. You must be so cramped." I appologized, jumping up out of my seat to let him get passed me. He laughed at me instead, shaking his head.

"I'm fine, seriously, Mary. Besides, the plane isn't ready to unboard yet." Sammy said, patting the seat next to me. "Come sit back down." It was strange how more clingy my imprint seemed since I ran away. I _really_ liked how he considered me his best friend now.

"Let me go talk to my parents first." I said, giggling at his impatience. "I'll be right back."

I walked the two dozen seats back and smiled at my mother. She was braiding Leah's hair in a way that she had done to my hair so many times when I was younger. I was glad that the girls were getting along. Twenty-seven hours on a plane could make a person's best friend hate them. I'm glad that wasn't the case for my mother and her sarcastic friend.

"Hey, Lee, will your fur be braided if you phase like that?" Embry asked teasingly and Leah scowled at him even though he couldn't see her expression.

"Shut up, Em!" Leah said, realizing that he couldn't see her. "Or I'll get Ness to braid _your_ hair."

"What do you say, Mary? Think I could pull it off?" He winked at me as he laughed, noticing that I was standing there, and I couldn't help but giggle along with him.

I shook my head at him. "Nah, I don't think you could." I told my teacher. It was weird to see him outside of class all relaxed like this. I knew that he was a Pack member, but I had never actually interacted with him like this.

"Oh, well." He said dramatically, looking at the front of the plane. "At least _some_ of us try to look decent."

"Hey, I try!" Seth piped up from the spot Embry was staring at. Dad emerged from behind him, quickly wiping away the serious look on his face from whatever they had been talking about in First Class, and joined us.

"Sure sure." Dad replied lightly. "You care about your appearance as much as a pig does."

"What'd my dad say?" Nessie asked, looking up with her big eyes at my own father.

"They'll meet us at the airport whenever we're released for unboarding." Jacob replied.

I let myself get excited. Even though I knew that this might be my last chance to see them all alive and together, I was still happy that I was going to be seeing my family soon. With any luck, all of us would be okay in a few days and the Volturi would be completely defeated. Okay, _a lot_ of luck.


	21. Unexpected House Guests

"Daddy! Momma!" My mother said, flinging herself down the stairs of the plane ramp. She was the first one to deboard so she was the first one to spot Edward Cullen standing by a green Jeep and saw Bella Cullen standing by the door of a blue mini-van. Jacob wasn't sure who was going to be picking us up so we were all on the lookout. It appeared that just my grandparents were here to lead us back to Rose and Emmett's home in London.

I couldn't believe that the young teenager in front of me was my mother. She was much more energetic than anyone else getting off of the plane. It was only at times like this when I truly remembered how physically young my mother would be for the rest of existance. Would I one day have a daughter who was thinking the same thing about me and my ageless skin?

We all scurried to catch up with her while keeping human strides. It wasn't that difficult for me since I was human anyways.

Which reminded me of my previous thought. Would I grow old and die? Would Sammy get to give up his wolf one day so that he could fulfil his imprint duties and die with me? Would my parents bury me next to Grandpa Charlie in Forks or on the Rez with Grandpa Billy when they both died? Would I even get a headstone since technically I'm not legally a citizen because my parents both had to lie about their identies when I was born? Would any of that matter?

Or, would I stop aging at some point and keep Sammy as my friend for literally forever? Would he hate me for it? Would my parents still be as kind and loving as they are now in a hundred years? Would I even want to be in the world hundreds of years from now? Would I be able to stay on the Rez, maybe help lead the Pack with Sammy? Would my presence keep generations of children burst into wolves for centeries to come?

I didn't know which one would hurt worse: knowing forever that I had kept Sammy as a wolf when he hates everything about it or the look on my parents' faces as they realized their one and only little girl was dying...

I was brought out of my thinking by the distinct growls from the three young Pack boys. I forgot that they had never come in contact with full vampires before. Though they liked to tell everyone on the Reservation about all of the vamps they'd taken down, the truth was that all of the patrols they'd ever done meant little to nothing for the amount of action they'd seen. My mother was the most vampire they'd ever encountered, except for me that one time I was phased around them.

Leah, Seth, and Embry automatically stepping in front of the three of them, effectively blocking vampires from young wolves. They stood five feet away from us and an equal distance away from my parents and grandparents. In case one of the boys lunged, they'd have enough reactioin time and space to phase without hurting anyone. It was smart, for sure.

"Just breath through your mouth." I advised, telling them the trick that my father had to master around the Cullens long ago. "You'll be fine. By time we head home, you guys will probably even be used to the smell and the instict."

They grumbled their responses, but all three slowly stopped shaking. I figured it would be best to keep them protected, though, so I gave Sammy a reassuring smile as I sidestepped the human blockade and joined the rest of my family by myself.

"Jacob, always good to see you." Edward said, nodding his greeting at his son-in-law. "Though, the current circumstances are unpleasant, of course."

"Of course." Jacob responded. "I understand. We were going to stay home, but Mary and Nessie were set on helping so I couldn't really say no."

"It surprised me when I got your phone call." Edward agreed. "Though, I really think it would have been less dangerous for the girls if they had stayed at ho-"

"Jake!" Bella interrupted him, disentangling herself from her daughter as she hugged her best friend. Mom instantly went into her father's open arms and buried her head against his chest as she showed him with her ability how much she missed him.

"Hiya, Bells." Dad answered, wrapping a giant arm around my grandma even though I had a feeling the smell was probably upsetting him after so long of not having to endure it.

I stood there for a minute while the old friends caught up, rubbing my toe in the asphalt as if that would make them notice me. Luckily, I had a mindreading grandfather to do it for me.

"And, who's that young woman over there?" Edward teased, releasing Mom from her hug and putting his hands on his hips like he playfully used to do when I was just a child. "It couldn't be my granddaughter. No, no. My little Mary is a tiny little thing! This girl is nearly a woman."

"Thank you, Grandpa." I said, and his lips twisted up into a smile at the mention of his title. I had outgrown calling Bella and Edward by anything but their names as I got older, but with not knowing how much time my whole family had left, I figured that any extra smiles I could put on their faces would be worth it. A frown flickered across his face at my thought, but I wouldn't take it back. The truth was, none of us knew for sure if we were going to be going home or not.

"You do look grown up." Bella said, grinning at me widely. "What's different about you, Mary?"

"I imprinted." I said automatically. Even though I was wearing makeup and had grown half an inch in height in the two months since I had seen them, I knew that it wasn't a physical thing that they were noticing.

"Ah, a boy." Bella asked, searching the three unintroduced faces. "Well, he's here, right? Which one is he?"

"The one on the left is one of Rachel's kids, right?" She asked Nessie when no one answered her automatically. Her vampire brain was thinking faster and her words were forming faster than we could respond to. "One of the Disciples' names, if I remember correctly." She looked between the other two. "The one in the middle looks like he's in pain, but a different kind than the one on the left. The one in the middle is also the spitting image of his father. God, I'd recognize a Uley anywhere." She turned to me, still talking a mile a minute, which was unusual for my shy grandmother. "So which one swept you off your feet? The Uley boy or the angry one that I don't recognize?"

"Sammy is my best friend, Grandma." I responded, a grin automatically finding its way onto my lips.

"And Sammy is...?" She prompted, though I had a feeling that she already put two and two together.

"Sammy Uley." I stated, pointing him out to my grandparents, though only Bella needed an introduction. "The 'angry one' is Gregory Abbott and that's my cousin, Peter Greene on the other end."

"Hello, boys!" Bella said and she started to take a step foward towards them but Mom stopped her.

"I don't think that they're quite ready to be around everyone just yet." Nessie explained.

"I'll have Esme set up an extra room just for the three of them." Edward suggested helpfully.

"It will have to be far away from the house the rest of us sleep in." Nessie spoke up at the same time Jacob said that it would be no inconvienence if they just phased and slept outside.

"Nonesense." Edward responded. "It's already all been taken care of."

"When you guys called and said you were coming, I had Alice and Emmett help me and Esme build a house for the wolves." Bella said excitedly. "It's the best we could do on twenty-four hours notice, but since it beats sitting around and fretting about the battle, it was the least we could do to make you guys feel more comfortable. Plus, it's about a mile upwind of our compound."

"Thank you so much." Nessie said, her eyes misting with tears of gratitude. I felt the same way she did. It didn't seem fair for the six, maybe seven if Dad chose to stay with his Pack, wolves to sleep outside when Mom and I got to stay indoors. This meant as much to us as it probably did to the Cullens that we were going to fight with them in a few days.

"It's seriously the least we could do." Bella said, smiling. "Besides, we did the same thing for Nahuel's people. Their house is on the other side of the compound, a couple miles in the other direction."

"Nahuel?" I asked. I was unfamiliar with the name, though it was tugging in the back of my mind. I tried to put a face with the name but it didn't ring any bells.

"The half-vampire who saved your mother the last time Volturi knocked on our doors." Edward explained, his eyes locked on my father's. "He came as a friend who wanted to help." He seemed to be telling Jacob it instead of me, though.

"Did he come alone?" Was Dad's only response. He appeared to not care and have asked it off-hand, but I knew him better than that. It bothered him that this Nahuel person was here for some reason.

"Huilen came, of course. And he managed to track down two of his sisters. They've taken to Gemma nicely and it really helps to have a few more numbers on our side." Edward explained, a look on his face that I did quite understand as he looked at me. "Ceciely and Maitlin...they're not like us. And Gemma struggles, as well."

My parents both snapped their heads to look at me and there was panic in my mother's eyes. I looked at my grandfather's golden eyes for answers, the question ringing loudly in my thoughts.

"They're not used to the 'vegitarian' life that everyone else you've met has adopted." Edward said slowly. "You're not a wolf, Mary, nor are you a vampire or a half-vamp like your mother or Nahuel and his sisters."

Then I finally understood the panic in my mother's eyes. I was human unless phased. Which meant that unless I was guarded around the clock, there was a chance that one of the three hungry red-eyes could try to make me into a snack. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to come after all.


	22. Gemma Hale

"Welcome to the Cullen Compound." Grandpa Edward said, sweeping his arms out in front of him.

I gasped. It looked exactly like the Cullen Mansion in Forks, Washington only it was set in a little town outside of London, England. I saw two buildings on either side of the compound, each looking identical to the other one. I wondered briefly which house would be for the wolves and which was for the half-vamps before my grandparents led us inside.

Mom and Dad took up the front with Peter and Greg behind them, followed by me and Sammy, with the three other Pack members bringing up the rear. It felt like it had been planned that way on purpose for my safety. I was human. That didn't automatically make me a huge target. I think my parents were overreacting.

Or at least that's what I had thought.

We weren't even through the front door before Aunt Rosalie was screaming. Vampires have no need for yelling, so it was usually for the benefit of us whenever they did.

"Gemma! NO!" Rose yelled, but it was too late. Her 'daughter' had already lunged forward. She crossed the distance of the room in less than a second, bypassing my 'bodyguards' easily.

"You have such an interesting scent." The blonde said, her French accent thick as she spoke. She took a step closer to me, inhaling deeply.

"Mary, phase!" Sammy said frantically beside me. Other people in the room were talking over each other, some trying to get Gemma to back away from me, some trying to urge me to phase to protect myself.

"I can't." I whispered, my lip quivering. I was still under a ban from our Alpha. Dad had been clear at the Bonfire: no one is allowed to phase unless they're on patrol. It was the only reason that the young Pack members hadn't phased yet and attacked all of the vampires around us.

"Mary, phase!" My father ordered, finally understanding why I was refusing to protect myself. "That's an order."

I felt my eyes shift and my body tense automatically. I let out a hiss at Gemma who was now, thankfully, slowly backing away from me. Her orange-y eyes were a give away to her recent change in lifestyle, but my eyes were as crimson as a Newborn's. I was the threat here now.

"Why don't you take Gemma to the Commons." Carlisle suggested, giving Emmett and Rosalie a stern look. The three of them disappeared through the back door and I saw them dart to the small house on the west side of the compound. I assumed that was where Nahuel's family was staying since it didn't make sense to send them where we would be soon. Alice and Jasper disappeared as well. I wondered if it was to give us some privacy or if all of our panicked emotions were upsetting my empathic uncle.

"Are you alright, honey?" Mom asked and when I nodded, she seemed satisfied with my answer. She followed Grandma Esme and Grandma Bella into the kitchen.

"We'll have to talk about security..." Dad drifted off, following Edward on the rest of the tour. Not before he sent all of us to the East building. "Go unpack and rest up. We'll have a training session once everything has been settled. The women are working on a hearty lunch." He gave Leah a pointed look and the Pack's Beta nodded. "Stay over there until someone retrieves you guys for lunch."

I followed behind the Pack, knowing how uncomfortable I was making everyone. If I were them, I'd be freaked out to have a Newborn in my mist while they were all still human. But none of them bothered to phase like I expected they would now that the ban was off.

There were four bedrooms, two baths, and a large living room with enough couches to seat all of the wolves. It was remarkable what a couple of vampires could accomplish in twenty-seven hours. It seemed fine until I noticed the obvious rooming arrangement. There was a room for my parents, one for Seth and Embry, one for Sammy, Peter, and Greg to share, and the last one was for me and Leah.

"I can sleep on the couch?" I said, noticing that we were paired up. I didn't want to make the she-wolf uncomfortable.

Leah scoffed in response. "You and your mother are just alike." She said snarkily, then her face softened. "I'm not afraid of you, Vampy. Besides, I volunteered to share with you. Beats sharing with my brother and Embry, that's for sure. And it gets your dad off of your back about not being protected twenty-four seven. You get me in your room or a guard posted outside your door round the clock."

"I-thank you." I said, grinning at the sarcastic wolf who had saved me from embarassment without me even knowing it.

"Now that that's settled, I'm going to go take a shower." Leah said loudly. "No one had better disturb me!" She looked over my shoulder and nodded at someone. I tilted my head to see Embry standing on the other side of the room. Great, they were already assigning watch duty. We just got here!

I pointedly sat in the bedroom I shared with Leah while she showered. If Embry wanted to guard me, he'd have to come and get me.

Five minutes after I stormed in my room, I heard a knock on my door.

"Go away, Embry." I hissed, throwing a pillow at my door from on the bed where I was sitting.

"It's not Embry." My imprint's voice was muffled by the wood. "It's, uh, Sammy." Of course I would recognize his voice. How could he think that he needed an explaination?

"You can come in, then." I said, wondering if he was actually allowed in here. I had never had a boy in my room. I rolled my eyes at that thought. I was almost fourteen. I could make a few decisions by myself. It was about time, actually.

He smiled shyly when he closed the door behind him.

"Where's my bodyguard?" I asked sarcastically.

"He's standing outside your door." Sammy said and I groaned.

Sammy sat on the bed next to me, bouncing me slightly as he did so. We sat in silence for a long time, ten minutes maybe?, before he finally cleared his throat.

"I think it's best to stay phased while we're here." He said so seriously that he sounded like my father. It wasn't quite an order, but the autority was still there. This is the Sammy that he would have become if my family hadn't moved back to La Push. He would have made a great Alpha. But he would have hated it and I was glad that, at least for now, he wouldn't have to have that responsibilty.

"You hate me, don't you?" I asked Sammy, looking at my shoes as if they had suddenly become very interesting. I couldn't stand to have him looking at my vampire-y red eyes. The last time I was phased around him, he decided that I had put a spell on him to explain away imprinting because I disgusted him so much. We were finally friends! I couldn't undo all of my hard work over the past month just because my life was in danger.

"Mary, look at me." Sammy said sternly. I responded automatically, lifting my face so that I could meet his gaze. There was that authoritive voice again. I couldn't tell if it was because he was my imprint or because he was on the list to be Alpha, but I obeyed him instantly.

"I don't hate you just because of what you are. Friends forever, remember?" He grinned and I let myself smile slightly. "Besides, red's a good color on you."

I let out a laugh. "You're just saying that so I won't bite you." I teased, sticking my tongue out at him childishly.

"Aw, Mary, I'm hurt." Sammy said, faking an injury to the heart, placing his hands on top of his left chest. "Take my compliment and turning it into a joke."

"Sorry." I said, grinning at him now, my mood lifted as my insecurities melted away. "You really think so?"

"I do." Sammy replied. "I'm a bit jealous, actually. Who else gets to have rubies in their eyes?"

I felt like I was floating on air. If I had to die before my birthday, I wanted to be with my imprint when I passed over. But, if I was going to be making a wish anyways, I would want to never have to leave him for all of eternity. I tried not to think about what that would mean for Sammy.

"I think I heard your dad." Sammy said, rubbing his stomach playfully. "Let's go get some grub."

"Right behind you." I said as he stood up. I would always be right behind him-following him until we were both buried in our graves.


	23. Apologies

"Are you sure that they can handle being around all of us?" I asked my mother for the hundredth, though probably realistically only the fifth, time.

Lunch had just ended for the wolves and my mother and now I was in the living room with my parents and, of course, Sammy.

Since I was phased, I didn't require food so lunch had been dull. I was ready to start training, the little bit that Dad would allow me to do. My throat was a little tingly, though, and I tried to push that thought to the back of my mind. I'd have to hunt later if I was going to continue to stay vampire while I was here.

Luckily, I was not short on hunting partners in a house full of vampires. It used to be a family outting when I had first started phasing, but as I continued to get better control of my instincts and the Cullens started drifting off in pairs, it was a Mom-and-me bonding time. I wondered if she'd still be up for it after eating human food this afternoon.

"Nahuel is sure that his sisters could handle it." Nessie said and Jacob scowled.

"You've talked to Nahuel?" My father overreacted and I bit back a smile. I loved my Daddy, really I did, but sometimes he was just a little too overprotective of me and my mother. Especially when it came to boys, I've started to notice since the imprint when I began to actually have guy frineds. Which was why I found it hilarious that Momma was the one who was irritated by his behavior right now. For once, it wasn't me.

Nessie just rolled her eyes. "Honesly, Jake, it's like you're sixteen." But there was a smile on her lips. "I spoke with Bella and Esme about it in the kitchen when we were still making lunch. And Nahuel happened to walk in. I told him that I couldn't let Mary around Gemma until we were sure that the young vamp wouldn't attack. He swore that his sisters were much more controlled around humans since they were hybrids...though they did slip up."

"So they're not okay, then? What if they 'slip up?'" Jacob asked.

My mother shook her head and let out a sigh. "No, Jake, they're fine to be around Mary. Especially if she stays phased."

Nessie and Jacob had supported my decision to remain phased while we were here. I had to give Sammy credit since I probably wouldn't have thought of it. It was the safest way for all of us to interact.

"They'd better be." My Alpha said, settling the conversation even though no one was really disputing. Mom and I exchanged glances and smiles over my father's rediculousness.

"Did you want me to stay?" Sammy asked, though his tone told me that he probably wasn't going to leave my side even if I told him to leave. He was as protective of me as my parents had been since Gemma tried to attack me.

"Of course." I replied, grinning at my personal bodyguard. Unlike Leah and Embry, I didn't mind that Sammy wanted to watch over me. The older wolves made it feel like I was being babysat, but Sammy made me feel like he really cared about what I did every second of the day.

"Good," My imprint said, "because I can smell that girl who attacked you. And she's almost here."

Mom and Dad stood up quickly, picking up Gemma's scent as well, and tried to block my body with theirs. I tried to stifle a groan. I was phased! What could Gemma even do?

"Where's Rose?" Gemma asked, her bright orange eyes sweeping the room quickly. They landed on me for a second longer than anyone else. "Oh, hello."

"Your mom is upstairs." Nessie said, her mouth fumbling on the word 'mom.' Even though Edward and the others considered Esme and Carlisle their parents, my mother had a biological set of parents that were still around. It was a concept that was a little strange for me to take in, as well. Being someone's creator didn't make them a parent in my book, not when I had actual parents. This girl had had real parents too, up until two years ago.

"Merci." She thanked Nessie. She was halfway up the stairs when she turned around again.

"I'm sorry for startling you, Doux Sang." Gemma directed to me, looking over my parents as if they weren't there. "Your scent startled me. So strange..." She shook her head, her young preteen face held no troubles in the world. "Désolé pour vous faire peur. My appologies, Doux Sang." Then she disappeared again.

"Doux Sang?" I asked. Though I had been taught by the Cullens while we lived with them, I had been a child the last time Edward had quized me in French.

My mother, however, would never forget a lesson since her brain had been so much more developed when she grew rapidly. "She called you 'Sweet Blood.'"

I felt Sammy shudder beside me. "Sweet Blood. I don't like it. It's like she's mocking you."

"I really do have sweet blood, though." I said, and Sammy's face paled. "I've got a little wolf in me and, of course, the vampire and human. Grandpa Carlisle did a bunch of studies on my blood when I was younger. One of them was a taste test, I guess, because he said that my blood was sweeter than my mother's." I joked until I noticed how upset it was making my imprint.

"I think that I'm going to be sick." Sammy said, looking like he might just do that.

"Oh, Sammy, she didn't mean it." Nessie spoke up, but my imprint was already out the door.

I stood up to go after him, but Dad put a hand on my shoulder. "Let me see if I can get him to come back." He said, taking after the young wolf.

"Oh, Momma, I didn't mean to upset him." I said quietly, knowing that all of my vampire relatives in the house could hear us anyways. "I was only joking."

Mom smiled at me, though. "Your father was the same way when I was about your age. Only, I took it a few steps farther than your little comment. I claimed that I had tried some of my own blood as a gag and he stormed off to find my mindreading father...after he threw up and punched a tree. He asked him a million questions about if it would effect my diet and if there was any way to pump the blood that I had 'drunk' out."

"Did you really?" I asked in disbelief. I couldn't see my mother as a prankster no matter how hard I tried. It seemed a little cruel to play a joke on her imprint...until I realized that that was exactly what I had done to Sammy. I didn't think he'd believe me, though.

When Sammy and Jacob finally returned back to the room, I stood up and met them at the door. "I'm sorry." I said instantly, wrapping my arms around his waist. I didn't think that I'd ever get used to his hugs. They were magical, for sure.

"It's okay." Sammy whispered to the top of my head, his breath barely moving. "I'm sorry that I overreacted, Mary. All I saw were fangs in your neck...and I lost it. It didn't matter that I thought you might be pulling my leg."

"Jacob Black! Renesmee Cullen! I heard that you were here but I had my doubts. But here you are!" A voice said behind us and I broke away from Sammy to see four dark Amazon vampires at the back door.

The tall women in the center was speaking, her eyes clearly the golden color of a convert. She had long black hair, pale olive skin, and looked to by about the same physical age as my mother. It was difficult to call this vampire a teenager, though. She held herself with so much more authority and wisdom than that. The man to her right had the same skintone and hairlength as the other three, though his dark locks were pulled back in a ponytail. His eyes were a dark black as was one of his sister's. The smaller sister, the only one who didn't look like she belonged in their Amazonian six foot world, had light brown eyes.

"Meu Deus, quão grande você ter começado!" She said, taking in my mother in an embrace and slipping back into her native language acidentily. I knew enough Portugese to comprehend most of that. Something along the lines of "my, how big you have gotten."

"It's Nessie Black now, Huilen." Mom corrected the full vampire woman with a smile on her face. "It's so good to see you."

"My appologies, Mrs. Black." The woman teased, raising her eyebrows suggestively. "So the wolf made good on that promise bracelet?"

"Aunt Huilen, that's enough." The man beside her said, clearly annoyed with the vampire. Nahuel looked exactly like he did in Dad's Pack memories. He smiled shyly to the rest of us. "Hello, Nessie, Jacob. And this must be your daughter?" He asked, though I had a feeling that everyone here knew who I was by now. The phasing vampire is hard to miss.

"I'm Mary." I said, sticking my hand out for him to shake. Then I shook Huilen's as well. I was going to do the same with the other two girls, but one of them let out a hiss and Sammy instantly grabbed me back to his side, his hand clutched tight in mine. If I hadn't been so freaked out with another person hissing at me, I would have been esctatic about Sammy's hand in mine.

"My appologies." Nahuel said, looking between his sisters and my group. "The wolf smell is new to Serena."

"Ceciely." The taller sister hissed angrily at her brother. "Joham created Serena. But _I_ created Ceciely."

I knew I wasn't the only one confused now. Luckily, Huilen explained it for us. "The girls were given names while they lived under their father's rule. When Nahuel and I reached out to them after the last Cullen/Volturi encounter, Ceciely and Maitlin decided to leave the bloodbath killings that they participated in because they didn't know any better. Over the past twenty years, the girls have tried to erase Joham's hold on them. They changed their names when they changed their lifestyles as symbolism of them starting over."

"It's not me that's upsetting Ceciely?" I asked, getting back on topic.

"No, you are fine, Mary. Your wolf-mate's smell is." Nahuel said, his eyes glancing between our joined hands and the blush that I felt overtaking my cheeks. I was about to correct Nahuel, but he had such a limited interaction with wolves that he probably wouldn't understand the imprint's choice to be friends like Sammy had chosen.

"It is wise that Esme has provided us each with a separate house, then, isn't it?" Huilen asked and started talking to my mother. Dad and Nahuel partnered up, discussing me of all things.

You'd think that would leave me and Sammy with Maitlin and Ceciely, but the two girls stayed fixed in their place. Maitlin looked like she wanted to speak with me, maybe about how I could phase?, but whenever she opened her mouth to speak, Ceciely would touch her sister's hand gently and the girl would stop.

Well, I could mark them off of my future friends list. I just hoped that my mother could befriend these two half-vampires like her. Other than Nahuel, Mom had never met any other hybrids and I'd hate for the wolves' smell to keep that from happening.


	24. Sammy's POV: Suicide Mission

**There have been quite a few requests for another one of Sammy's super long POV's, so here goes :) **

**Also, as long as people keep asking for his POV, I think I'm going to do every couple of chapters in his view. I love your insights on his thoughts, by the way!**

* * *

><p>Sammy's POV (the day before Mary ran away)<p>

"Hey, Mom?" I asked and Emily Uley looked up from the soup she was stirring for our dinner.

"What is it, Junior?" She asked, looking worried for a second that her oldest son had gotten into trouble at school or something equally as unlikely. Besides, if it were a problem at school, she would have already found out about it.

"Um, I was just wondering," I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. In my head, this was a lot easier to ask. "What do you think a fourteen year old would like for a birthday present? A girl, I mean. What would a girl like to get?"

Mom smiled at me knowingly, though she was trying to sound coy. "It's Mary's birthday, is it?"

I nodded. "Mary's birthday is on Saturday and I've been saving up...but I don't know what to get her."

My mother smiled again, only half of her face pulling upwards with the motion. "Why don't you make her something, honey? Your father always made me the most wonderful gifts for holidays."

"I can't do that, Mom." I said, embarrassed that I had to explain it to her. I figured it'd be obvious. "She's a _Cullen_."

"And?" Mom prompted, turning back to stir the soup again.

"Mary will expect something _nice_." I said, my cheeks flushing. Nothing that I could make in woodshop would be worth presenting to her. I wanted her to have the best present possible, not some stupid wood carving. I wanted to prove that I could care about her as much as her family could.

My mom turned around quickly, the spoon still in her hand now inches from my face. "Samuel Uley! What a snob you are! Anything you make her, I'm sure she'd love. Don't ever sell yourself short just because we don't come from a lot of money."

"I'm sorry, Mom." I apologized, startled by her anger. "I just...I want her to know that she's my best friend."

"And what makes you think that buying her a gift will prove that? Shouldn't your actions speak louder than any gift you could give her?" She asked, turning back to the soup, and my cheeks colored.

"She knows that she is..." I didn't know how I could explain it. I wanted Mary to have something that would remind her of me every time she wore it.

My mother's eyes softened. "This is a present for you, too, isn't it?" She asked, finally understanding. "Oh, baby, you don't have to prove anything by your present, though. I'm sure she'd wear a dandelion necklace if you gave it to her. That's one of the good parts about the imprint. No judgement."

"I know." I said. And it was true. Before the imprint, I couldn't stand her. I wanted nothing to do with her and I judged her before giving herself a chance to get to know me. Now? I accepted her flaws and genetic differences because it just didn't matter any more.

"But I _want_ to get her something nice. Dad gets you nice things all the time." I pointed out. Her engagement ring, the diamond earrings from their fifteenth anniversary, and the golden heart pendant that she had worn on her neck since before I was born that said 'Sam's Heart Belongs to Emily' were the most obvious gifts.

Mom smiled, subconsciously picking up her pendant and playing with it. "How about I take you to the mall after dinner? Do you think you could find something today? I don't really think we have the gas money to make two trips to Port Angeles."

I hugged her tightly. "Thank you, thank you! I promise that I'll be quick."

I could hardly contain myself during dinner. I had been saving my money since the day I imprinted on Mary, doing extra chores for my dad and the neighbors so that I could buy her something special for her birthday, and had forty-two dollars and eleven cents in my sock drawer.

"I wanna go!" Sally exclaimed when she found out that I was going to be going to the mall tonight. She was about the only one. Jessy and Johnny were too wrapped up in their eight year old twin world. Emmie would rather play out in the mud than be caught in a mall. And Tanner was unusually quiet.

"Sorry, honey." Dad told the five year old. "It's a school night."

"But Sammy gets to go!" Sally whined, sticking out her lower lip.

"Sammy is also sixteen." Dad said in a tone that was final. He looked at my brother. "You can go if you want, Tanner. Since you're in high school as well."

"Nah," My usual partner-in-crime said. When I came busting into our room earlier, excited about getting to finally buy Mary her present, he had grumbled something about "good for you." I think he thought that I was replacing him as my best friend. Which, I guess, I was. Mary was a different kind of friend, though. Tanner would always be my built-in brother friend. Nothing could replace that bond, even imprinting.

I practically jumped out of my seat when Mom put down her fork and picked up her napkin from her lap and set it on the table indicating that she was done eating. Dad just laughed at my eagerness. "I remember when I was young and in love." He teased and I growled.

"I'm not in love." I said sternly. "Mary's just a friend."

But it didn't matter what I said because Sally decided that what Dad had said was fact. "Sammy's got a girlfriend. Sammy's got a girlfriend." My baby sister sang out, completely off key and completely annoying.

The twins decided it was a funny joke and started in on their own version of taunting.

"Sammy and Mary sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes an imprint, then comes dating, then comes an overexaggerated engagement." Jessy sang out. I would have given him props for originality if A) it hadn't been about me and B) I hadn't been so embarrassed.

Johnny, not wanting to be left out, made up his own chant on the spot. "Nah, nah. It goes like this: First comes an imprint, then comes marriage, then comes a liter of puppies in a baby carriage."

This was about the point where I had had enough. If it weren't for Jacob's ban on phasing unless on patrol, I would have completely lost it in my kitchen. Instead, I stormed away like I guess normal people have to resort to.

"SHUT UP!" I yelled, storming off to my room. I slammed the door angrily. "SHE'S JUST A FRIEND!"

Mom came and got me fifteen minutes later and I could see that she was trying not to ask me how I was feeling. She mothered everyone, even the Pack, but with her own kids it was especially nurturing and a little bit prying. But with the best intentions, of course. And, like all long car rides, this one was no different. As soon as I was trapped in the vehicle, Mom started with the twenty questions game: "How are you feeling?" "Did your siblings hurt your feelings?" "Are you and Mary more than friends, because if you are, you can totally tell your mother?"

"Please, Mom. She's just a friend and I just want to get her something for her birthday. Is that too much to ask?" I said when we were nearly to the only mall open twenty-four seven within a hundred miles of us. Though it was only six-thirty by the time we arrived, the small excuse for a mall that had recently been built in Forks would have been closed by now.

"Alright, Junior. If you say so." Emily responded, grabbing her purse.

We must have gone into every store. I kid you not. There was not a single store that we passed up in an attempt to find Mary the perfect gift. Mom did most of the picking out of gifts while I said yes or no to them. They were all a 'no.'

"Oooh, what about this?" Mom asked, holding up a sparkly headband. I pictured Mary wearing it and she'd look beautiful. But it wasn't the _right_ gift.

I shook my head and Mom sighed. "Honey, why don't you start looking, then? Because I'm almost out of ideas."

It took me another twenty minutes and two stores later, but I found it. A sterling silver charm bracelet with plenty of space for charms. I figured that I could get her one for every birthday or special occasion or something. I picked out two ones that I thought would both look cute and subconsiously remind Mary of me for her birthday, though. I couldn't give her only one charm on a charm bracelet.

The first one was half of a heart torn down the middle like a bunch of the two pack necklaces had. Inside the pink half heart was "BFF" in black letters. I thought it was fitting. Though, there was no way that I was buying one of the charms for myself like I assume most people that get that charm do.

The second charm was my favorite, though. There was only one in the entire box of little charms and I knew that it was meant to be. The tiny wolf's paw was black, like me when I'm phased. I wished that there had been an entire wolf's body, but I had to deal with what I could find.

"What do you think, Mom?" I asked her, holding up the charms for her to see.

"I think she'll love it." She beamed at me and I nodded. I hoped so.

By time I finished paying and the owner had gift wrapped it into a little red box with a ribbon on top, it was pretty late. I offered to drive home since my mother had done so much for me today, but she insisted. When we got back home, I headed to my bedroom, trying not to wake Tan up. It didn't really matter, though, because as soon as I laid down, my heart started racing and I was sweating like crazy. Something was either wrong with me or wrong with Mary and I prayed to God that it was me.

When I heard the phone ringing in the living room, I knew otherwise. I raced to the couch, picked up the cordless, and spoke urgently into it. "What's wrong with Mary?"

"How did yo-nevermind." Jacob Black said. "We told her some upsetting news and she's taken off with Ness' passport and some cash we had lying around. We think that she's headed to London to join the Cullens. There's a four-thirty flight out of Forks in an hour and I'd bet money that she's on it."

"Okay, I'm there." I said, automatically thinking of how I would ask my parents for a loan so that I could get a plane ticket.

"The Volturi are involved, Sammy. I don't want you to rush into anything. There's going to be a battle on Thursday against a whole lot of vampires." Jacob said, sounding like he was trying to scare me.

"And Mary's going there?" I asked.

"Yes, her mother and I are going to try to bring her back, but I've got a feeling that it would be best to just gather a team." The Alpha replied. "I've already called the Clearwaters and they're on board. With any luck, I can convince Embry as well."

"You can count me in, sir." I said.

"It's your choice, Sammy. But really think this through. This could be a suicide mission." Jacob said gravely.

"Is Mary going there?" I asked again, more pointedly this time.

Jacob sighed. "Yes."

"Then you can count me in." I repeated. "I'm not going to let my imprint go alone, sir. And there's nothing you can say right now to stop me. I'll make a few calls and see if I can get any volunteers."

"This isn't a game, Sammy." Jacob said in a nononesense tone. "Make sure that they know exactly what it is that they're signing up for."

"Of course." I replied. "Mary ran away. Volturi. Suicide mission. Got it; anything else?"

"We'll pay the airfare for anyone who decides to join us, of course. It's the least we can do for people willing to risk their lives." Jacob said, in a quiet voice. "Thank you, Sammy. I know it will mean a lot to Nessie and Mary that you're going. Just please pass on the word that we are asking for volunteers only. No one _has_ to join us." Except for me.

After I hung up with Jacob, I made all of my phone calls. A sleepy Rachel answered the phone at the Greene house, but when I told her that there was Pack business, she sounded much more alert. Peter came on the phone and asked a few questions but sounded honored that he had been called to fight, literally. There was no answer at the Dunlap residence, but I figured that JJ would probably not have come anyways. Greg was surprisingly awake when I called the Abbotts. He sounded just as eagar as Peter had been. I reminded him of what Jacob had told me. That this wasn't a game.

I packed quickly. I nudged Tanner but he grumbled that he'd rather sleep than chase a bunch of bloodsuckers. I left him where he was since I didn't have time to beg. Jacob asked for volunteers and my brother clearly wasn't going to be one of them.

"Who was that on the phone?" Dad asked, both of them coming into the living room where I was waiting with my stuff.

I explained to my parents what had happened and told them that they couldn't stop me from going. "Mary needs me." I said sternly when my mother looked like she was going to protest.

"Do you need a ride?" Dad asked instead. I shook my head. I had planned on running to the airport since it was quicker anyways.

I threw Mary's gift into my bag along with my clothes and passport, kissed my parents, and was out the door before Tanner even fell back asleep.

"I'll be back in a few days." I promised, hoping the entire time I said it that the words were true.

Since I ran, I was the first one at the airport. Jacob and Nessie were the next to arrive. I smiled at Peter and Greg who hitched a ride with Embry Call when they all entered the airport with a duffle each. I was glad that my friends had decided to answer Jacob's call and help my imprint's family. Leah and Seth arrived just before the early boarding was announced.

Leah had a scowl on her face. "We would have been here sooner but _someone_ wanted to stop at Burger King."

"It's fine, Leah." Jacob said. "I'm just glad you guys could make it. Mary isn't here yet, but this is the only flight to London for at least eight days. She'll be here any minute."

'Any minute' turned out to be thirty. I was anxious to see Mary.

"A young Vanessa Wolfe has just arrived." A middle-aged man's voice crackled in the front of the plane. The blonde flight attendent picked up the reciever. "Ten-four. Let her board."

This was it. Mary had finally showed up. I felt like I was going crazy waiting.

"Looks like your daughter has finally made it." The flight attendent said, smiling at Nessie.

"Sammy, come back here for a minute." Jacob suggested and I forced myself not to let out a whine. I had to see Mary and know that she was okay. But Jacob continued to stare at me, maybe he knew why I was stalling, and said, "My wife would love to have a talk with our daughter first. Alone. Then you can."

I nodded, following him back to Coach. It was only two minutes before Mary entered the plane. She and Nessie exchanged a few angry words, on her mother's part, before Mary came sulking back to where we were all sitting. Correction: sulking back to where her_ father_ was sitting. She walked right past me! I tried not to let it bother me, but it did. Nessie followed after my imprint, giving me a small smile when she noticed the intense stare I was giving the back of Mary's dark curls.

I tried to ignore their conversation as best as I could, so I wouldn't appear like a stalker, but suddenly Jacob was talking to the whole plane. "I asked for volunteers, Mary. It's not too late for them to back out. I wouldn't think any less of them if they chose not to fight."

"We're with you, sir." Greg said with conviction. "We've been itching for a fight since joining the Pack."

"Uncle Jake, your family is my family." Peter said enthusiastically. "There's no way that I'd ever sit this one out."

"We couldn't let Mary go unprotected." I responded automatically. She was my top priority. "It'll be an honor to fight alongside Pack legends."

Leah and Embry started flirting after my comment, something I had seen our teacher do for as long as I had been in the Pack. It didn't bother me at all at this point. I just wished, for his sake, that she would finally accept the fact that he was in love with her...and that I think she was, too.

"What's my punishment?" Mary asked in a soft voice, her delicate hand in the air to actually stop an answer. "And before you answer, I know what I did was wrong and I apologize for the way that I got everyone here. BUT, I feel in my bones that going to help was the right thing to do. I would have done it a hundred times if it meant that we could help the Cullens. For that, I won't apologize."

"When did you grow up so much?" Jacob asked. He seemed to be as much putty as I was in Mary's hands. "It seems like only yesterday, you were doing whatever we told you and being careful of your opinions. But I look at you today and see a outspoken girl who stands up for what she believes in, no matter who it might offend. You're a teenager now. Congrats, Mary-beary."

"Thank you, Daddy." Mary leaned in to hug him and I looked away from their private moment.

The pilot announced that we were ready for take-off and for everyone to please take their seats and I smiled. Now Mary was mine. There was no way that she'd choose to ignore me now. We had twenty-six hours on this plane. I was going to get her to talk to me if it killed me. But instead of stopping at my empty row of seats behind Greg and Peter, she tried to continue to First Class. I knew that she was used to luxury and that was something that I'd have to work to provide my friend with, but was she seriously going to blow everyone off after we had all agreed to fight on her behalf? I didn't believe this.

I was about to call her out on it when Jacob did it for me. "Where do you think you're going? I know we usually get First Class when we travel as a family, but the Pack is here and there's just not enough room up there for all of us."

I joined back in on Greg and Peter's converstation as Mary headed our way so that I wouldn't seem like I had been pathetically waiting for her to acknowledge me. I felt like a stalker. I needed to get a grip. She was allowed to have her own life. Just because she was mine didn't mean anything.

As soon as she was sitting by me, I faded back out of the conversation. It was difficult to focus on anything but Mary when she was near me. Her scent, her tiny little movements, the sound of her voice: everything distracted me. I knew that the Volturi were something that we should fear, but all I cared about was the girl beside me. I didn't want to strategize. I wanted to talk to Mary alone.

It was fifteen hours into our trip when suddenly I had had enough. I kept going over everything that had happened in the last few days and suddenly I was angry. Mary had tried to run away without telling me. I told her everything. And she couldn't even find the decency to let me know that she was going to LONDON to fight to probably the death against evil vampires. And she didn't even tell me! If the roles were reversed, I know that my strong-opinioned best friend would have chewed me out the second that she saw me. But I had sat back like a coward.

I needed to pace. I did my best thinking when I paced. My best worrying, too, but that was beside the point.

I didn't expect her to follow me, though. I needed time to get my anger out of my system before I talked to her about how I was feeling. But I guess that was out of the question now.

"Don't you _ever_ do that again." I growled, taking in the startled expression on her face and my face crumpled when she asked what she had done. She didn't understand at all, did she? Was I being completely unreasonable? Was this normal behavior? I mean, technically we were just friends like she and Greg were. She didn't owe me any explaination.

"Please, don't ever do that again." I tried to ask, but it came out all wrong. I sounded pathetic when I told her why I was acting so strangely; since she clearly had no idea why I was upset. "You ran away from me."

"No I didn't." Mary said, her face softening as she shook her beautiful curls. "I was trying to help my family. I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't even tell me that you were going. I woke up in a sweat, feeling like I had to run, and then I get a call from your dad that said you were missing and he thought he knew where you might be headed. And that I have a choice to go with the Pack or stay behind." I felt my hands shaking, the tell-tale sign that I was going to phase any moment even though there was an Alpha ban on. I couldn't believe that I was losing my cool like this. But I was angry at what Jacob had implied. I didn't care that I sounded like a possesive boyfriend; Mary was my best friend and I would be nothing without her. "He said I had a frickin' _choice_. As if I would let you leave without me!"

"Shhh, it's okay. I'm right here; you don't have to worry about me any longer." She said gently, trying to calm me, but it had the opposite effect. I just wanted to cry. How could she possibly think that I wasn't worried about her in this upcoming fight? I bet that Mary thought the hard part was the trip up there and disobeying her parents. But I knew better. She could _die!..._and that thought nearly sent me over the edge.

"Can I-can I hug you?" Mary asked when I felt that I was physically going to cry at just the _thought_ of her demise.

Even though it was the first time we had hugged, we fit together automatically. Though she was a foot shorter than I was, we still matched. Her head rested against my chest, right over my heart, and I knew that she could hear and feel my heartbeat as strongly as I could. Her tiny arms were wrapped snuggly around my waist and mine were tight around her shoulders.

That was when I realized just what I could have lost if her dad hadn't invited the Pack to fight. She obviously needed me to protect her from the things that she didn't think through properly. My naive little imprint. "I-I can't lose you, Mary. You're my best friend. Please, don't ever do that again."

"Shhh, I promise." Mary whispered into my chest, sending electricity through my body at the feel of her lips on my t-shirt. I felt lightheaded. I barely heard her when she said the words that I had been waiting to hear since I boarded the plane. "I promise, Sammy. I won't take off on you ever again."

I returned to my seat ten minutes later after finally convincing myself that I could, in fact, let her out of my arms. I didn't want to. I had never felt closer to Heaven than with her wrapped up in my arms. It was definitely a feeling that I was going to have to get more often from now on.

Peter was trying to come up with a total number of fighters on the bad side when we got back to our seats. I could tell that he was taking this as seriously as we all should be.

"Thirty-two." Mary replied automatically. "If the wives accompany them, of course."

"You sure about that, Black?" Greg asked.

My imprint shrugged. "I think so." And then she named every single vampire in the Guard like the smart aleck she was.

"Okay, okay. I believe you." Greg said when the thirty-second name was called out. "But how many of them are actually a threat?"

"Yeah, any special abilities that you know about?" Peter asked. "We need every advantage that we can get."

"The good vamps will probably tell us all of this when we get there and start training." I said.

"Yeah, but what else are we going to do for the rest of the flight?" Peter asked rhetorically.

So the conversation continued until we had picked apart every figther's skills. It was well past midnight when I felt Mary's head fall over onto my shoulder. She had fallen asleep half hour ago, but had kept to her side of the seat. I felt my heartbeat in my throat. Should I move her? I didn't want to wake her but I wasn't sure how she would feel when she woke up and realized she had slept on me. My shoulder. But still.

I couldn't do it, though. I loved the feeling of her resting so peacefully against me. I drifted off to sleep as well, waking up when I felt the plane start to shimmer, indicating that we were decending.

"Mary, wake up. We're almost there." I whispered, gently shaking her.

"I'm up, I'm up." Mary said, stretching out adorably in her seat, her feet uncurling from underneath her and her arms stretching out as far into the aisle as she could reach. Greg took that moment to walk past her. Her cheeks turned ruby red and I tried not to growl at my Pack buddy. It was clearly an accident. But my instincts were telling me to rip him to shreds anyways for even letting it happen. She touched him!

"Oh, shi-" He said, his eyes meeting mine instantly, truth shining through them. "I'm so sorry, Mary. I didn't see you!"

"It's no problem. I'm sorry. It was my bad anyways." Mary tried to laugh it off, but it felt forced. Was Greg making her feel even more uncomfortable? I was going to kill him.

"So, you ready to unboard yet?" Mary asked, clearly trying to change the conversation. It worked, only because she was ignoring Greg. It was just us again. I could deal with that. I took a deep breath and nodded, "Yeah, I'm ready to stretch my legs."

"Oh, gosh. You must be so cramped." She jumped out of her seat to let me pass, but I laughed, patting the seat next to me and urging her to sit back down. By me. Where she belonged. I knew I was being territorial, but she just smiled.

"Let me go talk to my parents first. I'll be right back." She giggled and I thought I was in Heaven again. A few minutes, like promised, Mary was back by my side where she belonged. How could I have ever been disgusted by her? Everything she did was magical.

"Daddy! Momma!" Nessie yelled, running to two golden-eyed vampires that even I recognized through the Packmind. Mary's grandparents looked exactly the same as they had the last time the Volturi had been called in, or at least, they looked the same as the memories that were passed down to us from the original Pack who were there.

We were fine looking at them, but as soon as we got within twenty feet of the good vamps, the three of us let out a collective growl. I felt Peter and Greg shaking beside me and was once again thankful for the phasing ban. Still, the experienced wolves stepped in between us as a protective barrier.

"Just breath through your mouth." Mary advised and I felt the air around me lessen as all three of us took a deep lungful of air. "You'll be fine. By time we head home, you guys will probably even be used to the smell and the instict."

She smiled reassuringly at me and then she was gone. I focused on the back of her head as she joined her family. It felt like a whole lot of symbolism going on right now. Mary with her vampire family, me on the other side, the Pack in between us. I tried to shake off the feeling of utter loss with Mary not by my side and tried to control my instincts so that I could join her with her family soon.

I also tried to focus on what they were all saying, but I only cared about it when it involved my imprint. The one called Edward teased Mary about growing up and her cheeks reddened. I grinned like a maniac, despite the fact that I was still fighting the urge to run up there and get Mary away from the two strange vampires, when Mary mentioned me when Bella asked her what was different about her.

"Sammy is my best friend, Grandma." She stated and I bet that her smile could be seen from outerspace. When she introduced all of us, Bella stepped forward "Hello, boys!"

If it weren't for Nessie stopping her, I have a feeling Greg would have lunged. "I don't think that they're quite ready to be around everyone just yet."

There were three important things that I learned from the rest of the conversation: the Cullens had built a house while we were on the flight here, there were three half-vampires and another full vampire now on our side, and Mary was in danger. The first two didn't really compare to the last revelation. I wanted to send Mary back on a plane to La Push immediately but I knew that A) her family wouldn't let her travel alone and we needed all of the fighters we could get and B) Mary would shut my idea down as soon as I voiced it. From their expressions, I assumed that Nessie and Edward were having the same thoughts. But Mary's brow was set. She was determined to stay here.

So we loaded up with Seth, Leah, and Embry in the Jeep and the rest went in the mini-van. It ended up with Edward and Jacob in the front of the van with Nessie and her mom in the middle stench was easier to bare from the very back of the van where Greg, Peter, Mary, and I squished ourselves, even though it would have been more comfortable with Mary in the middle row, but she wanted to sit by me and neither of the boys would sit next to a vampire. One of them could have gone in the Jeep, but by time we realized this, we were already halfway there.

I didn't think that I'd be able to handle another minute of the cramped car ride when suddenly the engine came to an abrupt stop.

"Welcome to the Cullen Compound." Edward said, though I didn't really care.

I was too busy trying not to let myself get completely overwhelmed by the scent of vampire around me. Being in the fresh air didn't really help that since there were more vampires around me. I stayed as close to Mary as I could without seeming like a stalker since her scent canceled out a lot of the overwhelming vampires. That also meant that I saw firsthand when the short blonde haired vampire tried to attack Mary. Someone was yelling, but I was focused only on Mary. Why didn't she phase!

"You have such an interesting scent." The French vampire said, sniffing my imprint loudly.

"Mary, phase!" I commanded, but I knew that the Alpha's order still overrode my imprint authority.

"I can't." She whispered with so much vulnerability.

"Mary, phase! That's an order." Jacob commanded and my human imprint was suddenly a vampire. The orange-eyed vampire backed up in fear of my imprint. That's right! Better be afraid of my imprint. She was fierce!

One of the blonde vampires, one who looked nearly thirty, said something and five vampires disappeared. Including the orange-eyed one that tried to attack Mary.

"Are you alright, honey?" Nessie asked and I wanted to scream 'no!' but she had been talking to Mary, who seemed less shaken up by this whole thing than I was.

"We'll have to talk about security..." Jacob said, sending us all to the house that a couple of vampires had made for us. Mary stormed to her room with Leah and I waited until the she-wolf was in the shower before I got up the nerve to speak with Mary about what had been bothering me. She was just too delicate when she wasn't phased. And for the next two days, delicate was just something that she wasn't allowed to be. It was for her own safety. I just hoped that she wouldn't take it as controlling.

I pointedly ignored Embry when I saw him standing guard in front of Mary's door. I didn't believe that she should be treated like a prisoner.

"Go away, Embry." Mary hissed from the other side of the door, throwing a pillow. I tried to bite back a laugh. I wasn't sure how well she would take me laughing at her if she was in a mood.

"It's not Embry. It's, uh, Sammy." I felt stupid with our teacher and legandary Pack member standing so close to me. Embry smirked in my direction, his arms crossed over his chest.

"You can come in, then." That was all the permission I needed.

"Where's my bodyguard?" She asked sarcastically, twirling a piece of her hair in an adorable and angry way.

"He's standing outside your door." I replied and she groaned. Apparently she didn't really think that she had one.

I sat on the bed next to her and told her what had been bothering me. "I think it's best to stay phased while we're here."

Mary, like always, caught me off guard. Instead of replying angrily and calling me a stupid jerk for thinking that she was weak or instead of completely agreeing with me because she knew it was a good idea, she asked me if I hated her.

She asked me if I _hated_ her! She wouldn't even look at me when she asked it. How could she honestly still believe such a thing? We had been friends for a month and I'd like to say that I knew her better than anyone else. She was special, both to me and literally. Who else could say that their best friend was a kick-butt vampire whenever backed into a corner but also completely human whenever we hang out normally?

"Mary, look at me." I commanded and I tried to control myself when she instantly looked up at me. But inside I was giddy like a schoolgirl. "I don't hate you just because of what you are. Friends forever, remember?" I got a smile out of her and let myself full out grin back at her.

"Besides," I added, hoping I wasn't overstepping any friendship boundries as I complimented her, "red's a good color on you." I had been entranced by them during our entire conversation.

"You're just saying that so I won't bite you." She laughed her Heavenly laugh and stuck out her tongue. It was both a childish and beautiful action.

"Aw, Mary, I'm hurt. Take my compliment and turning it into a joke." I teased, but really I was kind of upset that she didn't say thank you or something. I mean, I know we were friends and stuff, but friends gave each other compliments, right? And they appreciated them? Right? I wasn't really sure, actually. None of my guy friends had ever paid me a compliment unless it was about how loudly I burped or how fast I ran in track. Not things that actually mattered.

"Sorry. You really think so?" Mary asked, with a huge grin on her face.

"I'm a bit jealous, actually." I said, cursing myself for sounding as cheesy as I knew I did. "Who else gets to have rubies in their eyes?"

Mary's cheeks reddened and I thought I was going to have to make red my new favorite color. Between her eyes and her blushes, I was definitely considering it.

"I think I heard your dad. Let's go get some grub." I said, rubbing my stomach playfully.

"Right behind you." Mary said, a sad look on her face. I wanted to ask her what was bothering her, but I figured that she'd tell me if it was important enough.

"Oh, wow, you really outdid yourselves this time." I could hear Seth's voice from the back door of the Compound. I slid the door open and held it open for Mary. She smiled, her red eyes shining, and walked in front of me.

I took a seat beside her and Peter across from Leah and Embry. Seth and Greg were to Mary's right and Nessie and Jacob were on my left. The table looked brand new and I couldn't believe that the Cullens would buy whole new furnature just as a prop. They were vampires for crying out loud! They had no need to sit or sleep or cook. So why pretend that they do? I understand that they're rich and like to pretend that they're human, but they're not.

I pictured all of the starving kids in Africa who could be benefitting from their millions. If I lived forever and had an unlimited supply of money, I wouldn't spend it going back to high school, that's for sure. I'd try to make the world a better place. Oh, gosh, I sound like a teenage girl. Mary would never let me live this down if she could hear my thoughts right now.

Mary. God, was she in my thoughts a lot lately. But that was normal, right? I mean, she was my best friend and my imprint. That more than justified the amount of space she occupied in my brain.

I stared down at my plate as Esme walked around the table serving people. It was strange. A vampire dishing out food? It made me wonder if it was even safe. But Jacob dug in, along with the other three original wolves. Nessie picked at her green beans, secretly sliding them over to her husband's plate and stealing all of his carrots. He just smiled at her and took the last remaining green bean from off of her plate and ate it.

The two of them were insanely in-sync. It was kind of nausiating to watch, actually. How did Jacob do it? How did he fall in love with a hybrid when he was the Alpha at the time and going against everything his Pack believed in? And twenty or so years later, he still looked like he didn't regret a thing.

I wonder if I'll feel as happy with Mary as my best friend twenty years from now as I do now. Twenty years was a long time for me, but would it seem like a big deal after it had passed? That was another thing. In the two months that I had known Mary, she had continued to age. Or, at least, for the past month since the imprint I've noticed little changes in her. She was aging.

Which made sense since she was only almost fourteen and not fully grown like the rest of her vampire family. Nessie stopped when she was seven and looked nineteen. All of her other relatives had been bitten when they were teenagers or young adults. Other than Gemma, who I didn't really consider a child, though everyone else here kept freaking out because they thought she was, I had never heard of a vampire that was younger than fifteen. Maybe some Guard members, but I didn't know them yet.

Didn't mean that I had to like the fact that Mary was growing up right before my eyes. Is this how Quil and Jacob felt with their young imprints? Mary wasn't a baby, but she was two years younger than I was. I didn't feel like her brother at all, though. I hoped I always felt like this around her.

Which took my thoughts down another path, or maybe the same one, I couldn't tell. Would Mary continue to age? Or would one day she stop changing and be immortal forever? I couldn't tell which one would be better: to get to experience every second of Mary's life with her by her side and to give up my wolf one day so that we could both die together or to spend literally every second of the rest of eternity with my best friend and maybe take over the Pack one day with her by my side.

On the one hand, I was reluctant to be a wolf because I didn't choose this life. On the other hand, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that none of the wolves, except probably Seth, wanted to turn into a giant furball and they all accepted their fate happily. If they could handle it, I figured that I eventually would. But if Mary continued to age, I could actually give up my wolf in two years and none of this would even matter since we would be the same physical age at that point.

"Sammy, are you okay? Hello, earth to Sammy." That voice that I'd recognize anywhere asked and I turned my attention to Mary and the conversation I had been too lost in to notice was going on.

"Huh?" I asked, "Sorry, I was thinking."

Mary giggled. "It's okay. You looked like you were on another planet." She stared at the empty plate in front of her and the full plate of mine. If I hadn't been so distracted, I would have already been finished eating. "So, you do you like chicken, don't you?" She looked upset, like maybe I was offended by the food and that was why I hadn't scarfed it down already like the other wolves had.

"It's one of my favorites." I said, picking up the chicken and taking a big bite to prove my point. "I was just a little distracted."

I finished my plate, thanked Esme when she loaded it up again, and took a bite of my green beans before I noticed that Mary had still not put anything on her plate.

"You okay?" I asked, concern for her overridding my need for food.

"I don't eat when I'm phased." Mary said quietly, trying not to look me in the eyes. I wish she wouldn't do that: try to hide from me. I kept waiting for her embarrassed blush to appear, but I guess that was something that she couldn't do when phased either.

"Human food, you mean." I said, putting two and two together. She needed blood if she was going to stay phased.

"Yes," She whispered just as quietly, the eyes of both of her parents on her now. I could see Greg fidgetting in his seat over the news, but I didn't really care how uncomfortable it made my friend as long as Mary was concerned.

"Would you like to go hunting later?" Nessie asked, looking worried about her daughter's safety more than I was about her shame over this conversation. Esme had disappeared like all of the vampires kept doing and I took a deep breath of the non-vampire-y air. Well, Mary was still here, but she had such an appealing scent that I couldn't complain. Even Nessie smelled pleasant enough.

"Can we talk about this later?" Mary asked, her rosey eyes pleading with her mother to drop the subject.

"Of course, honey. Why don't you join us in the living room?" Jacob said, taking the hint.

"Leah, you are all free to do whatever you want until the training session starts." The Alpha told his Beta in a tone that meant 'stay out of the living room and make sure everyone else does, too.'

"I think I'll set up a peremiter around the Compound." Seth offered helpfully, a huge smile on his face as always. "You guys want to do a few laps with an old man?" He teased, looking at me and my buddies.

"I'm gonna go take a nap, I think." Leah said casually, giving Embry a quick glance that she thought no one would notice. Everyone knew that the two of them were crazy for each other. I didn't understand why they didn't just date already. Or go public with their dating if they already were.

"That sounds like a good idea." Embry said just as casually. We all knew that they just wanted to talk privately.

Nessie got up and put all of the dishes in the dish washer, even though all of us tried to do it for her. Wolves are hardworkers by nature so it was a little difficult to let the Alpha's imprint do work for us. Technically, we were supposed to be treating her like a queen.

I started heading outside with Greg, Seth, and Peter when they got up, but Mary stopped me.

"You coming, Sammy?" Mary asked and I smiled on the inside as well as the outside. This was the second time today that she had requested my presence. I didn't care that she probably just didn't want to talk about hunting; she wanted me and that's all that mattered.

"Always." I said, following Mary and her parents into the living room.

More useless props filled the room and I tried to be thankful instead of resentful that a family of vampires owned thousands of dollars worth of furnature and the most expensive thing in my family's house was the tv. And even that was far from as impressive of the flat screen in this room.

We settled ourselves into the couches and Jacob announced that he had another motive for bringing us in here. He wanted Mary to see if the half-vampires would be bothered with her scent while she was phased and didn't want them to get scared off by all of the wolves, who were instinctulally the enemy.

"Are you sure that they can handle being around all of us?" Mary asked her mother, referring to the three half-vamps that Jacob said we were going to meet today. I didn't like the idea of Mary meeting them without me, even though I knew he parents wouldn't let anything happen to her. I just couldn't risk letting her out of my sight.

Besides, what else did I have to do? We weren't training until later today, once Jacob was assured that no one would harm his daughter, and my other friends were running patrol around the area to stretch their legs. I only knew that because I saw them every time they circled around to the front of the house.

"What if they 'slip up?'"

"No, Jake, they're fine to be around Mary. Especially if she stays phased."

"They'd better be."

"Did you want me to stay?" I asked when Nessie and Jacob got into a little what my mother would call a 'tiff.' Mom claimed that imprints never really fought, which had proven true so far, but that sometimes they had a disagreement since both thought they knew what was right for everyone involved.

"Of course." Mary smiled and I was glad that one thing hadn't changed when she was phased. I loved her smile-every square inch that it took up on her face.

"Good, because I can smell that girl who attacked you. And she's almost here." I said, trying to keep the panic from my voice. But inside, I was terrified of that girl. Because she had been within inches of my imprint. And she could have killed Mary if she decided to take a bite out of her. I would never feel that Mary was safe around that girl.

Nessie and Jacob must have felt the same way because they stood up and tried to block Mary from the girl's sight, though she still noticed her.

"Where's Rose?" Those creepy orange eyes stared my imprint down as curiousity showed clear on her face. "Oh, hello."

"Your mom is upstairs." Nessie said, her mouth fumbling on the word 'mom.'

It seemed like the wrong word to call the woman who had kidnapped this girl and changed her life completely by changing her. I wondered if this girl remembered her real parents or if she had been so brainwashed by these crazy vampires that she forgot about them completely. I wondered if she missed her real family. For a moment, I felt sorry for this young vampire who's world was flipped upside down because of a selfish woman who stole her life...but only for a moment. As long as she was a threat to Mary, she recieved no pity from me.

"Merci." She thanked Nessie. She was halfway up the stairs when she turned around again. "I'm sorry for startling you, Doux Sang._ Your_ scent startled _me_. So strange...Désolé pour vous faire peur. My appologies, Doux Sang."

Then she disappeared again. That name stuck in my head, though I didn't understand French. It gave me the creeps.

"Doux Sang?" Mary asked, the name unfamiliar to her as well.

"She called you 'Sweet Blood.'" I shuddered when Nessie answered her.

"Sweet Blood." I said, trying not to let my anger show. "I don't like it. It's like she's mocking you."

"I really do have sweet blood, though." I felt my blood freeze when the words escaped my imprint's lips. Wh-who had tried her blood?

"I've got a little wolf in me and, of course, the vampire and human. Grandpa Carlisle did a bunch of studies on my blood when I was younger. One of them was a taste test, I guess, because he said that my blood was sweeter than my mother's."

I felt like my head was spinning and my throat was closing up. God, her parents let this happen? I really was about to get sick and I told them as much as I ran out of the room. I could hear a woman's voice saying something to me, assumedly Nessie, but I couldn't focus on the words. I could only focus on getting my feet to move. I passed Peter who was making another lap around the house but I ignored his puzzled look and got as far away from the house as my legs could take me while human. I ended up on an old dusty road that I barely remembered being on when we arrived here before my need to get away disappeared.

"Oh, god." I said right before I threw up into the ditch. I wasn't on the road, but I was pretty much as close to it as I could get. I heard the creepy children's game song "Bloody Mary" playing over and over in my head as I hurled my lunch, glad that for once I had only eaten two plates full.

"Sammy, come back to the house. It was only a joke. Mary was teasing you and didn't think that it would effect you." Jacob said calmly, his hands out in a sign of surrender as he approached me. "She didn't understand how that might upset you. My Nessie pulled something similar when she was a teenager. Scared me half to death...I broke my hand from punching a tree, and I threw up, too."

"I-It's not true?" I asked, images of the older vampire sucking blood from Mary's neck appearing in my mind. For the second time that afternoon, I threw up. I tried my best not to identify the chicken and green beans in my vomit pile.

"Do you think that I would let anyone lay a finger on my daughter?" The Alpha asked and for once, I was glad that my imprint's parents were who they are. No parent in the world would protect their child the way that those strong creatures could.

It still didn't mean that I wasn't going to worry about her. I just wanted to take all of the evil in the world and hide it from Mary. No more vampires or werewolves or any other monster that wanted to hurt her. Take her to a place where no one would try to drink her blood or kill her or even say mean things to her. Where she didn't have to worry about pleasing her parents or sucking up to the stupid kids on the Rez. Where she could be herself, the _real_ her, not the one that she tried to put on for people who judged her. Just me and her where I knew she'd be safe and loved and happy.

"No blood. No blood." I muttered to myself, not even realizing that I was doing it until Jacob pointed it out.

"That's right, Sammy. No blood. No one's ever tasted Mary's blood and no one ever will." Jacob reassured me and I let out a deep breath. I believed him.

"We'd better head back or they'll come out after us." Jacob said after a minute, patting my back the way my father did whenever he gave me a pep talk, though this was nothing like a pep talk at all.

"I'm sorry." Mary wrapped her little arms around me as soon as I stepped back into the house. I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding and pulled her a little tighter.

"It's okay." I whispered into her hair, wishing that I never had to let her go. I felt like such a fool for running out on her when all she had done was made a joke. "I'm sorry that I overreacted, Mary. All I saw were fangs in your neck...and I lost it. It didn't matter that I thought you might be pulling my leg."

"Jacob Black! Renesmee Cullen! I heard that you were here but I had my doubts. But here you are!" A tall golden eyed, Amazon vampire hugged Nessie.

The two half-vamps looked nearly alike, though the only thing that I noticed about them that they had dark skin, eyes, and hair. I couldn't really _see_ them. Their eyes stuck out to me, though. A man with them glanced at me, his eyes straying to Mary with a look that I didn't like one bit. His black eyes lingered on my imprnt for far longer than I would have liked.

"It's Nessie Black now, Huilen." Mary's mother corrected. "It's so good to see you."

"My appologies, Mrs. Black." The woman teased, raising her eyebrows suggestively. "So the wolf made good on that promise bracelet?"

"Aunt Huilen, that's enough." Nahuel tried to be coy when he looked at my imprint again. "Hello, Nessie, Jacob. And this must be your daughter?"

"I'm Mary." My sweet girl shook that slime's hand and then the golden-eyed one. The taller of the sisters hissed and I panicked. I grabbed Mary's hand, pulling her back the few feet back to my side. I knew my hand was clutching hers tightly, but I couldn't help it. I felt safer with her closer to me.

"My appologies." Nahuel said, though he looked smugly at me when he said it. "The wolf smell is new to the girls."

"It's not me that's upsetting Ceciely?" Mary asked, her voice filled with relief.

"No, you are fine, Mary. Your wolf-mate's smell is." Nahuel said, his eyes glancing between our joined hands. I felt my chest puff out. That's right. Mary was mine. Not yours. Stupid half-vampire eying my imprint.

We stood around awkwardly, none of the newcomers attempting to reach out to us. I was about to head back to our little house with Mary when the man who I assumed was in charge came down the stairs, followed by Gemma and her kidnapper parents.

"All is well?" Carlisle asked, looking between Mary and the half-vampire girls.

"We're fine to proceed." Jacob replied. "Is Jasper ready to begin the training session?"

Emmett's face lit up in glee. "I've been waiting for this all day!"

"Calm down, Em, baby." Rosalie said condecendingly. If possible, I think I hated this woman more. Did she seriously think she was the center of the universe? Apparently.

It only took a few minutes for everyone to gather in the backyard. Oh, but what a difference a minute could make! I saw it the moment it happened.

Peter, Seth, and Greg came into the yard still in "wolf-mode" as the younger Pack members liked to jokingly call being phased. Embry and Leah emerged from our little house, both with angry expressions on their faces-though, Embry also looked like he was sad. The entire Cullen clan emerged from wherever they had been hiding.

But that wasn't what I noticed.

No, the thing that made my face light up in a smile was the look that they pressumably younger of the half-vamp sisters gave to the wolf across from her. Her expression was that of awe and wonder and love and just pure joy...and when I glanced over at him, I saw all of that reflected in his giant puppy-dog eyes and knew that he was already a gonner.

_HOLY CRAP!_ That was the _third_ wolf who imprinted on a partial vampire! And yet, as much as it had appauled me when it had just been Jacob, once I went through the imprint myself with Mary, I knew that my Pack mate was going to be happy that it had happened to him and that Maitlin was the girl for him.

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><p><strong>AN: I know this is a cliffhanger and you're all dying to know who imprinted...but I haven't actually made up my mind yet. Which sucks as a writer when you want your story to go a certain way but all of your characters are fighting for the spotlight. <strong>

**I love happy-go-lucky-well-deserving-of-happiness Seth and angry-overcoming-his-fear-of-vampires Gregory and supportive-and-good-intentioned Peter equally...but I only require one imprinted wolf :( **


	25. Imprinted Wolf

I had never witnessed imprinting firsthand. I mean, technically I did with my own imprinting...but that was different. That was feeling the world shift and watching the eyes of someone you had known for months suddenly change in your own eyes. But watching someone else imprint? Well, it was something completely different entirely.

Peter, Seth, and Greg came into the yard all still in their wolf forms.

And like a lightswitch being turned on, his eyes instantly fell on Maitlin, the love and awe radiating from his very being. She stared back just as intently, looking like he was her savior come to rescue her.

Since I was phased, I could hear what they were all thinking. As fearful as I was about him reacting the way that Sammy had towards me when he first imprinted, I knew that was not the case at all. He loved Maitlin already. Even though he didn't know her. He wanted the chance to prove it to her and have her accept him back. He was like a junkie in need of a fix, only worse because this was his first dose of her.

_Name...name...what's her name? Need to know. So beautiful. Let me love you. Just tell me your name... _Seth thought over and over in his mind.

_Dude! That's awesome! You finally imprinted! Congrats!_ Peter exclaimed, happy for our Pack brother.

Greg looked like he was envious of the imprint. Which caught me off guard because I knew how much vampires bothered him. It wasn't Maitlin that Greg wanted, though. It was the imprint itself. The love and devotion and complete acceptance that was reflecting in both of their eyes.

Seth had been the youngest wolf when the original Pack took over. He had watched nearly every single one of his friends imprint and settle down and stop phasing. There wasn't a more deserving person on this planet than Seth. Big hearted, goofy, loveable Seth Clearwater imprinted on Maitlin, the quiet half-vampire half-sister of Nahuel.

Embry and Leah emerged from our little house, both with angry expressions on their faces. I couldn't help but notice that Embry looked like he was a little sad, though. I could only guess what their conversation had been about. I knew that it was difficult for him to accept that Leah just wasn't ready for a relationship. Though, after twenty years, you'd figure that she would also get it through her thick skull that not everyone imprints...well, that would have been a good point if the person who imprinted today wasn't her brother.

Leah noticed the change at about the same time that everyone else did.

"Oh,_ hell_ no." Leah said, throwing her hands up in defeat. "I give up!" She headed back in the direction of the small house where I knew she would lock herself in our shared room.

"Lee, this doesn't change anything." Embry said, looking a bit angry at his Packmate for imprinting and forever ruining his chances with Leah. I knew that he was glad that his best friend had found his own soul mate, but Embry had chosen his and he had enough trouble fighting for her without another wolf imprinting and throwing it back in his face that there was a small chance that he could, too.

"What's wrong with the she-wolf?" Sammy asked me quietly as Embry took off after her.

"Seth, Leah, and Embry were the only ones in the Pack that hadn't imprinted yet...and now that Seth has, the chances of imprinting being 'rare' are pretty much nonexistint." I explained, my eyes darting between all of them.

"At least he'll get to spend eternity with her." Sammy said quietly, looking me dead in the eyes, my breath catching in my throat.

"Wha-?" I asked, not able to shake the stare my imprint was giving me. "Do you think that he...that he could be okay with staying wolf?"

"Seth has always loved being a wolf." Sammy replied honestly. My heart sank. That was what I was afraid he would say. I knew that Sammy didn't want to keep phasing. Who would? Other than my dad, Seth was probably the only one who enjoyed being a wolf all of the time.

"And if he didn't?" I asked in a small voice, because I had to. Because I had to know where Sammy stood on this matter. Because it was all that really mattered. If I found out that I could live forever, I didn't want to keep Sammy with me unwillingly. It was one thing to be a hypothetical best friend forever. It was another to literally be together for eternity.

"I think that he's going to be happy spending every second of the rest of their lives together." Sammy said, his dark brown eyes soft as he spoke, never leaving mine for a second. "If it means staying wolf than I'm sure it'd be a sacrifice any wolf would make for someone that they lo-um, liked, a lot." His cheeks were flushed from the heat of the London air around us.

I nodded, trying to play it cool, as if that wasn't the single most important conversation we had ever had. I smiled inwardly, looking back at Seth and his new imprint. Even though they were twenty feet away from each other, standing on opposite sides of the practice field, it was obvious that they were the only people here...in their minds.

Seth wasn't noticing his sister freaking out or Embry trying to reassure her; he was staring at the short half-vamp with wonder in his brown eyes.

Leah wasn't the only sibling to notice the exchange. Nahuel noticed that and so did Ceciely. And judging by their expressions, they weren't happy about it. Nahuel understood imprints and the wolf bond more than his sisters did, but he still didn't look happy that his little sister had found her soul mate in a wolf. Ceciely, who didn't understand imprints at all, looked disgusted at her sister for staring at Seth.

"What is wrong with you?" Ceciely hissed at her sister.

"Maybe we should explain the wolves' culture..." Carlisle tried, but was interrupted.

"I think that Maitlin and Seth should be excused from this training session..." Edward suggested.

"No!" Nahuel and Ceciely said in unison.

"They need to talk..." Jasper, feeling everyone's emotions, argued. Alice only smiled, knowing what was going to happen next. With this many wolves and half-vampires around, her vision was blurred. But I could tell that she could sense that two of those blurs were about to leave the clearing.

"They can have nothing to talk about." Ceciely protested. Even though she didn't understand imprinting, she could see in the two minutes that we had been standing out here that her sister was no longer the person that she used to be.

Seth took a step forward, not paying any attention to the conversation around him.

"Stay back, mutt." Ceciely hissed threateningly. "One more step and I'll rip you to pieces."

Maitlin turned her gaze from Seth's for the first time since the imprint occured, her light brown eyes boring into her sister's. "You try to move towards my wolf and I'll rip _you_ to pieces."

Ceciely gasped. "Maitilin? You can't be serious! I'm your sister! I helped keep you safe from Joham. You will not talk to me that way."

But the girl wasn't hearing her sister. Because Seth had finally learned his imprint's name.

_Maitlin._ Seth thought, carressing her name with such sweetness that I thought I might get sick.

Though he was still phased and hadn't said the word aloud, Maitlin's head snapped up to look at Seth again. It was almost as if she_ had_ heard him and was responding to her name being called. Seth tilted his head

"Maitlin, why don't you come into the house?" Nessie suggested. "Seth will change and join us all in the living room. There's a lot that needs to be explained to you and I don't think you should be left alone until you know everything."

"Seth..." Maitlin said, a smile crossing her lips for the first time since I had met her. "Yes, I will go if Seth will join us."

"I'm coming, too." Ceciely threw a fit and at last, all four of them were gone. I wanted to be nosy and listen to the rest of their chat, but we had training to do.


	26. Training

**AN: I finished my first week of college :) Sorry for the wait on the update but real world trumphs everything lol. Now that I'm kind of in a pattern, I'm going to try to pick a day (or a few) a week and update more regularly. Thanks for the reviews and keep 'em coming! :D**

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><p>Jasper had split us up into groups depending on our level of fighting experience and he walked around from group to group giving advice on what to work on the most.<p>

Rose and Gemma partnered up since my aunt refused to let anyone fight her daughter; Leah and Edward helped Peter out since he had the best speed out of the mini-Pack; Greg teamed up with Emmett and Jacob because he was looking like he would be the fiercest fighter; Carlisle and Esme partnered, being the weakest vampires, and together tried to give Embry some strategies about taking out a vampire (which was quite comical, I might add); Alice and Bella partnered since my grandmother's shield over all of our thoughts evened out Aunt Alice's chances against anyone; and that just left, yup, you guessed it: me and Sammy.

About halfway through training, I was ready to quit. It wasn't physically tiring. I mean, I was a Newborn vampire when I was phased. No, it was just sort of boring. I felt like it had been rigged so that my imprint could make sure I didn't get injured during this practice session. Jasper didn't even come advise our group at all! And that was when I realized that my parents and my imprint probably wouldn't let me get within ten feet of the action when the Volturi arrived.

Ceciely, Seth, Maitlin, and my mom had yet to return outside. Not that I really cared, except for the fact that Nahuel went in to check on his sisters about three hours into our session. I just wanted a more willing sparring partner and figured that Nahuel would be willing to not take it easy on me. My family thought that I was too delicate just because I was usually human. What they didn't seem to realize was that, besides Gemma who had crazy ninja reflexes, I was probably going to be the biggest advantage that our team was going to have.

_You don't need Nahuel._ Sammy growled, startling me as he spit out the half-vampire's name. I hadn't realized I had lowered my shield. As Alpha's daughter and Bella's granddaughter, I had pretty good control over my thoughts when I was phased.

_I didn't say I needed him._ I said. But then an idea came to me. It was wrong, so very wrong. But I knew it was the only way to get my imprint to stop treating me like I was helpless. If I was going to train, then I wanted to actually _train-_not just dodge the few blows that Sammy sent my way. He was supposed to be training, too! How much could he really be learning about fighting a vampire if he wouldn't even fight his vampire partner!

_But..._ I knew it was wrong to play on his emotions, but it really was for both of our benefits. _I doubt that Nahuel would treat me like a baby. He'd actually spar with me. Maybe I will go find him afterall..._

_Like hell you will. _Sammy said, a sudden flash of jealousy overtaking his emotions before he lunged.

This was more intense than the "fight" that occured when I first imprinted on him. Sammy was angry...but those emotions were to my advantage. He didn't think about his moves in advance, just acted on impulse, which left him slamming on his "brakes" when I sidestepped his advances. It took him nearly half an hour to realize this and to actually start planning a stratagy.

He ended up pinning me a few times-tapping me on the cheek with his huge, wet, doggie nose instead of taking a chomp at me like he would a real target-and I could see in his mind that he understood that he needed to be training as much as I thought that I needed it. He was pretty quick once he stopped thinking of me as his best friend and started focusing on me as a sparring partner.

I had the upperhand on him most of the time, though. Whenever I had him in a chokehold, ready to twist his neck like I would a threatening vampire, I would release my arms from their grip around his neck and give his shoulder blade a light squeeze or his fur a quick ruffle.

By time the session was dwendling down, it was later than I expected it to be. We had waited so long to start the training session that it was now almost the middle of the night. It had to at least be midnight. The sky was dark as coal and the few stars that were out seemed to be distance twinkles.

"1:06." Edward corrected automatically. I think sometimes he didn't even realize that he was in our heads; it was just that natural to him that he couldn't help responding to our thoughts as if we had said them out loud.

_Get out of my head, Gramps._ I said, a bit irritated. _If I wanted to know the time, I would have asked._

The mindreader took it good-naturedly, though. Much better than I thought he would. I didn't usually have an attitude, especially where my family was concerned.

_Haha! Good one, Mary! You tell the leech._ Greg complimented me, though it earned him a warning growl from my father.

_Vampires._ Jacob corrected. _You are to refer the Cullens as vampires, not leeches. _

_Oh, come on, Jake. You hardly ever call them vampires_. His bitter Beta chidded. _Take it easy on the kid._

_I will not have our family disrespected like that. _Dad argued and I smiled in spite of myself. The Quilluite werewolf Alpha was defending the term 'vampire' to his Pack even though I knew that the stench of said leeches was nearly knocking him out as he spoke.

_It's okay, Daddy._ I replied. _I'm okay with being called a leech. I doubt the Cullens mind, either._

Now it was Sammy's turn to protest. _You are NOT a leech, Mary. Leeches are monsters that tear apart human flesh with their teeth and suck dry the poor soul who used to inhabit the body. They attach themselves to the human like a literal leech and don't stop until they have finished their kill. _

_ Nice mental image._ Cousin Peter said, nearly gagging as he envisioned me doing those things to a nameless human. His thoughts wouldn't even allow such a ridicuous image in his mind.

_You are_ _a _vampire_ when you're phased, Mary. __Not a leech._ Sammy said, his voice set. I couldn't tell who he was trying to convice: me or him?

I wasn't physically tired yet, but I could tell that the wolves seemed a bit more sluggish than they were when we started practicing.

_Nighttime for the wolves?_ I thought pointedly in my grandfather's direction.

"I think this was a very good first practice." Edward said in a booming voice, clapping his hands together to emphasize his point that this was now over. "Let's all meet back out here before lunch?"

Small barks of appreciation escaped from some of the wolves, whether at the fact that we were stopping or because of the mention of food I wasn't sure.

"That sounds like an excellent idea." Carlisle agreed and his wife nodded.

"I'll have a big breakfast set up beforehand so that you'll have plenty of energy." Esme said and was greeted with more happy barks of agreement from my wolves.

Everyone separated quickly after that. The vampires headed to the Compound and the wolves went back to our little house in their wolf forms. I followed the wolves, even though I didn't require sleep. I couldn't help but notice that I was the only female going in this direction, though. Leah followed my Dad to the Compound instead of walking back to our house with Embry, who clearly had thought that she would.

_Don't take it personally, man._ Peter said, trying to cheer up the clearly dejected wolf.

_How could I not?_ Embry snapped. _She obviously doesn't want to be near me._

_She probably went to make sure her brother was okay._ I chimed in. _Just like I know my dad is going to retrieve my mother once he knows that Seth is going to be fine._

Sammy got a determined look on his face as he walked beside me. I couldn't tell if whatever he decided was going to end up well or not.


	27. Gemmatantrum

**AN: I know I promised a quicker update, but this was the best that I could do. Sorry, guys :/ **

* * *

><p>Wednesday afternoon after our third training session, we got the confirmation that we needed of the time frame of the fight. The wolves had gone back to the "dog house" to rest up and the half-vampires had gone back to their cottage as well.<p>

I was hanging out with my vampire family since I didn't need a nap and I hadn't gotten to see a lot of them since I moved to the Rez. Mom thought it would be a good idea to try to get to know Gemma since she was the reason we were taking on the Volturi. I had to admit, Aunt Rose chose the one human in the world who was exactly like herself to make as a daughter when she bite Gemma. The blondes had more in common than their hair color.

"All I'm saying is that I don't see how you can handle the smell." Gemma said with an eyeroll.

The more I saw of my "cousin," the more that I understood that she was just a preteen like myself. Though she could hurt me when I was human, she didn't pose a threat to me. She was intriqued by my smell, that's all. We actually had a good bit in common, as well.

"The wolves don't smell!" I said with a smile on my lips.

"That's probably just because you're one of them." Gemma said, raising her nose in the air.

"I'm a vampire." I stated, not sure what she was meaning.

"Yes, but you still have some wolf in you. Hence why you think it's not a problem with the smell." Gemma argued.

"My mother isn't wolf at all and she can handle the smell...so can Maitlin." I argued back.

"That's that, what do you call it again? The magic love spell thing?" Gemma asked.

"Imprinting." I said, laughing at her use of the word.

"Magic love spell." Emmett said, his laugh bellowing across the room. "Ha! That's funny."

"Em, don't encourage her." Rosalie said, rolling her eyes. When she spoke to her created daughter, her voice was all sugar-coaty. "Gemma, sweetie, you know that it's called imprinting."

"Yeah, whatever." Gemma said, her tone changing completely when she spoke to her mother figure than when she was talking to me. From what I had overheard between my family members, she was about to have a "Gemma-tantrum."

"Don't use that tone with Rose, young lady." Carlisle said, always the father-figure no matter who he was talking to.

"Really, Dad, it's fine." Rosalie interrupted, an appologetic look to Gemma.

I wish that my aunt would stop trying to hard to win Gemma over. I think that it might help their whole relationship. Rose was new at being a mom and didn't understand. It didn't help that she created a teenager (pre-teen, technically) instead of a younger child that she could actually get the chance to raise. I wish, more than anything, that my aunt had been human still so that she could have had her own child instead of having to steal someone else's child.

"You don't have to walk on eggshells for me." Gemma complained, rolling her orange eyes. "If you need me, I'll be in my room."

She stormed out of the room faster than I had ever seen a vampire move. If I hadn't been watching Gemma's movements, my attention probably wouldn't have been on Alice when her face twisted up in a grimace.

"Alice, what is it?" I asked, but my aunt's golden eyes were staring past me, past everyone in the room. She was clearly having a vision and by the shocked look on her face, it wasn't a good one.

"The Volturi will be here in the morning." Edward answered for Alice, who was still in shock.

"I don't understand...didn't we already know this?" Bella asked.

"We knew the fight would be on Thursday." Carlisle agreed.

"So...what did you see, Alice?" Aunt Rose asked, panic in her own voice.

When no one answered her, she asked again, a little more upset this time. "What did you see?"

Alice shook her head. "Nothing. I didn't see anything..."

"Don't lie to me, Alice." Rosalie threatened. "If something is going to happen to Gemma..."

"I didn't see anything." Alice said miserably. Jasper rubbed her back soothingly to no avail. "There are too many wolves. All I saw was that Aro has finally decided to begin the fight in the morning. That's all."

"Is that true, Edward?" Rose demanded angrily, looking at the mindreader for confirmation.

A look passed between my grandfather and my short aunt before Edward responded. "Yes. Alice didn't see anything."

Whatever they were hiding had to be bad. Really bad.

"There's nothing to worry about that we didn't already know." Edward added, trying to ease everyone's thoughts.

It did little to calm my nerves and, judging by the expressions on everyone else's faces, no one else was buying it either. I hoped that we were all wrong. I hoped that we would all be okay whenever tomorrow was over. I hoped that I wouldn't die two days before my birthday, hoped for that more than anything else.

For the first time in my life, I was betting against Alice.


	28. Sammy's POV: Setting Things Straight

Sammy's POV

What I didn't expect from Seth imprinting on the half-breed Maitlin was both of their sisters' reactions. Though, really, Leah's opinions had never really been a secret.

"Oh,_ hell_ no." Leah said, throwing her hands up in defeat, heading back to the little house. "I give up!"

"Lee, this doesn't change anything." Embry said, following her like he would be doing until the day he died.

"What's wrong with the she-wolf?" I leaned over and whispered to Mary, even though I had a pretty good idea why Leah was upset. It was pretty clear from her tone _exactly_ why she freaked out: she was in love with Embry and too afraid to actually act on it because of the fear of him imprinting and leaving her.

But any chance I could get to hear Mary's soft voice was a chance that I was going to take.

"Seth, Leah, and Embry were the only ones in the Pack that hadn't imprinted yet...and now that Seth has, the chances of imprinting being 'rare' are pretty much nonexistint." Mary explained, her wide red eyes looking everywhere but at me.

"At least he'll get to spend eternity with her." I said quietly, maybe even a little wistfully. Her eyes shot up to look at mine and I felt my best friend's full attention on me. I loved those brief moments when I knew that I was the center of her world like she had become mine in the past few months.

"Do you think that he...that he could be okay with staying wolf?" Mary looked like she couldn't take her eyes away from my intense gaze, her words not making any sense. Why wouldn't Seth want to live forever with his immortal imprint? That was an extra bonus of imprinting on a half-breed. Now Seth would forever get to be in Jacob's Pack with Leah and Embry, neither of whom seems to be wanting to grow old for no reason.

"Seth has always loved being a wolf." I replied with a small shrug, my eyes still locked with hers.

"And if he didn't?" Mary asked in such a vulnerable voice that I finally understood why she was so concerned with Seth and Maitlin. Because other than her parents, they were the only imprint pair that reminded her of _us_.

"I think that he's going to be happy spending every second of the rest of their lives together." I said, holding her gaze so that she would know how much I meant it myself. Didn't she see how happy her friendship made me? How could she think that I would want to do anything else?

She hinted that Seth wouldn't want to keep phasing...which meant that she was concerned that _I_ didn't want to stay wolf.

Oh.

_Oh. _

My face flushed as I realized just what she was asking me. I wasn't even sure if she knew exactly what she was asking herself. If Mary proved to be immortal like her mother and the other half-breeds, then that would mean that I had a choice to make: grow old without her like I would have if I hadn't imprinted or continue to be her best friend forever and keep phasing.

Honestly, it wasn't even really a choice. There was no way that I would die if I knew that Mary was going to be left unprotected on this earth without me. I would gladly join her father's Forever-Pack with Leah, Seth, and Embry as long as it meant that I could be here with her to keep her safe. I mean, I was here in London about to fight the Volturi for god's sake! There was literally nothing that I wouldn't do for this girl. Didn't she see that?

"If it means staying wolf than I'm sure it'd be a sacrifice any wolf would make for someone that they lo-um, liked, a lot." I said, catching myself before I blurted out that I loved her. I didn't love her, did I? No, no, that couldn't be right. I couldn't love Mary...except as a best friend. Yeah, that was it. I just loved her like a friend. But...if that were the case, then why did I feel like I couldn't tell her it right now? This was crazy. I had to get my emotions in check. Whatever emotions they were.

Other voices drifted in and out, but I wasn't paying attention. My thoughts were on Mary's ghost of a smile at my response. I could tell that she was trying very hard not to full out grin like she wanted to. She was happy that I agreed to stay wolf for as long as she was immortal. And that made me happy. She acted as if I had just proposed to her or something. I kept replaying the conversation we had just had, trying to censor my thoughts.

I only noticed that Seth, Maitlin, Ceciely, and Nessie were missing when Mary hip checked me. She let out a giggle as I lost my balance ever so slightly. A human wouldn't have noticed it, but none of us were human here.

"Earth to Sammy." My imprint said as I righted myself. "You were off in La-La-Land again. Jasper said that we're going to start training in a minute."

"I'd better go phase, then." I said, shaking my thoughts out. What was wrong with me? I couldn't even focus on one of the most important days of my life. I needed to train properly so that I could protect Mary in a few day's time.

Jasper had split us up into groups depending on our level of fighting experience and he walked around from group to group giving advice on what to work on the most. I had asked him to partner me with Mary and, against his better judgement, he assigned us as partners for training. There was no way that I was going to let Mary fight someone who might accidently hurt her.

Mary's shield started slipping as she realized that I had fixed our partnership with her uncle. Her thoughts both surprised me and rattled me a little bit: ..._wanted...willing sparring partner...Nahuel...too delicate...human...seem to realize...crazy ninja reflexes...biggest advantage..._

_You don't need Nahuel._ I growled, unable to keep my emotions in check as I realized that my Mary preferred that stupid half-breed over me.

_I didn't say I needed him._ She argued, her lip jutting out ever so slightly in the way that it always did when she was being stubborn.

_But...m__aybe I will go find him afterall... _She said, a strange glint in her eyes. She was teasing me...and my wolf took the bait even though my rational brain knew that she was only trying to get a rise out of me. I didn't realize how much it was working until I lunged for her.

_Like hell you will. _I said, my jealousy overpowering anything else as I saw shock register on my imprint's face as I closed the distance between us and nearly tackled her. She sidestepped me at the last minute and smiled victoriously.

Oh, it was _on_ now.

She got me in a chokehold the first time on her own accord...but after I felt her little arms around my neck, almost as if she were giving me a hug from behind, well, I couldn't help it if I liked that. I wanted her to ruffle my fur all of the time or squeeze my neck gently as much as possible. So I let her "win."

Not that I could make it look too easy for her. I pinned her about half the amount of times that she beat me. Each time, I would touch her cheek with my snout, relishing in her scent for a brief moment before getting off of her and getting a proper distance away from her. It was the closest thing to a kiss that I had ever given Mary and suddenly it felt like not enough. I wanted to wrap my human arms around her and give her the proper first kiss that I knew she deserved.

_No,_ keep those thoughts in check. I ordered myself, praying that I hadn't let it slip into the Packmind. I couldn't be thinking about Mary that way _especially_ when my thoughts weren't safe from her while we were both phased.

There were way too many reasons why this train of thought was a bad idea, a_ very_ bad idea. For one, she was my best friend and she didn't return the feeling back to me...as her imprinter, I have to obey her wishes. And for another reason, she wasn't even fourteen yet. I was _sixteen_! She was just an innocent preteen and there was no way that I was going to steal these years from her. If those weren't strong enough reasons, she was the Alpha's daughter and there's no telling what he'd do to me if he found out.

I couldn't help that over the past few months, I had gotten to know Mary, _really_ gotten to know her. And she was the single most incredible person in the world.

Mary was sweet and kind and generous and courtious of everyone's feelings above her own.

And she was so stubborn...never stopping until she got her way, much like her father. Mary was a _warrior_ when it came to standing up for what she believed was right and stating her opinions. She fought the Pack tooth-and-nail in order to be even somewhat accepted into our group at school and, even more so, in the actual Pack once we found out that she could phase. She didn't take crap from any of the boys, even Tanner who seemed to have a personal grudge against her, and especially not from me. I hate that I used to be such a jerk to her, but she's long since forgiven me.

And she was loyal to her family like I've never seen anyone be before, not even the wolves who were loyal by nature. She hopped on a plane to London just because her Aunt Rosalie did something as stupid as changing a kid into a vampire. She didn't think twice about the implications or the harm that could befall herself...only that she had to be here to support her "innocent" aunt's actions. Even when Gemma tried to attack her, Mary didn't think about abandoning her aunt.

And, god, was Mary beautiful. On the inside _and_ out.

It wasn't just that she was pretty in a vampire-lurring-her-prey kind of way like her mother's side of the family was. She also had that natural Native American beauty from her father's side. Other than slightly paler skin, she looked like she belonged on the Rez...because she_ did_ belong.

Every little thing she did interested me: the way she stomped her foot whenever she wasn't getting her way...or the way that she bit her lip when she was talking about something that made her uncomfortable...or the way that she got so lost in a book that I had to read it myself just so I could hear her talk about the fictional world that she had gotten so wrapped up in...or the way that she got frustrated by that one tiny ringlet that wouldn't tuck behind her ear...

Or, in the past few weeks, the way that her eyes seemed to hold mine for a little bit longer than before. The full attention from those big brown eyes was enough to make me want to...well, it didn't matter. Kissing her wouldn't change anything. It would only make these feelings more complicated. What if Mary returned my feelings? Or, worse yet, what if she didn't?

This attraction felt wrong on so many levels. I had to stop it before anyone found out...especially Mary. I promised her that we would be friends and I didn't think that she'd respond kindly to finding out I had a crush on her.

My brain just was not going to let my heart win, and that was final.

Fortunately, my imprint seemed to have not picked up on my thoughts. Maybe I was getting better at hiding my thoughts. My father could do that, keep his thoughts a secret from his Pack, but he was Alpha at the time. I wasn't even close to being Alpha since Jacob was in charge for probably forever since his imprint would never die.

But Mary wasn't concerned with the babbling going on in my head and for that I was grateful. She was worried about how tired all of the wolves seemed to be and wondered what time it had turned into. I tried not to puff out my chest in pride over my girl's concern for the Pack's well-being.

"1:06." Edward corrected Mary's thoughts in that smug little way that he always did. I think he got off on making sure that everyone knew how much more intellegent he was than the rest of us.

_Get out of my head, Gramps._ Mary snapped and I smiled inwardly. No one seemed to ever put Eddie-poo in his place. _If I wanted to know the time, I would have asked._

The mindreader took it good-naturedly, though. Probably just to prove that he wasn't as much of a snob as we all knew that he was. Or maybe it was because his granddaughter was the one to say it.

_Haha! Good one, Mary! You tell the leech._ Greg said, starting a debate with Jacob and Leah over the term "leech" versus "vampire."

_Vampires._ Jacob corrected. _You are to refer the Cullens as vampires, not leeches. __I will not have our family disrespected like that. _

_It's okay, Daddy._ Mary said and I turned my head to look at her. She could not be serious! _I'm okay with being called a leech. I doubt the Cullens mind, either._

I growled defensively. How could Mary say something like that? She wasn't some "Cold One," she was warm...and kind...and gentle...and loving. None of those things were true of leeches.

_You are NOT a leech, Mary. Leeches are monsters that tear apart human flesh with their teeth and suck dry the poor soul who used to inhabit the body. They attach themselves to the human like a literal leech and don't stop until they have finished their kill. __You are_ _a _vampire_ when you're phased, Mary. __Not a leech._

I had to get that through to her. She was an innocent, not a lawless monster. She would never take a human life when she was phased, even though I know that she felt the burn of thirst. The Volturi, now _there_ were some leeches.

_Nighttime for the wolves?_ Mary suggested thoughtfully. She was always thinking about others before herself, even though I could see in the back of her mind that she really wanted to keep training.

Leah looked over at the 'Dog House' as it had been dubbed by the vamps. I could see the indecision on her face. Everyone could. She met Embry's gaze for a second, her light brown eyes warm and open, before she glanced at the rest of us. I could be paranoid, but I think her eyes hardened when she looked in my direction. The she-wolf let out a little growl, one that sounded the same as the rest of our tired sighs...but between that and the look she was giving me, I knew better.

_Don't take it personally, man._ Peter said, trying to cheer up the clearly dejected wolf.

_How could I not?_ Embry snapped. _She obviously doesn't want to be near me._

I kept my mouth shut about my epiphany, at least until I got a chance to talk with the she-wolf about it.

_She probably went to make sure her brother was okay_. Mary said for Embry's benefit, though we could all see that Leah had clearly chosen checking up on Seth as a hiding mechanism.

After phasing back, I went to find Mary.

"I, uh, just wanted to say goodnight." I said, running my hand through my hair nervously. Even though it was stupid to be nervous. I was just saying goodnight.

Mary smiled, her wide red eyes staring up at my brown ones. "Goodnight, Sammy."

"Goodnight, Mary." I responded automatically.

"You said that." My imprint giggled.

"Oh, yeah...um..." I didn't know what else to say but I just couldn't stop my awkwardness.

"Sammy?" Mary asked and just the sound of my name on her lips had me hypnotized.

"Yes?" I was eager to hear whatever she had to ask me.

"Did you have something you wanted to talk to me about?" She asked, her smile one of a girl with a secret.

"Um, no, not really." I said honestly.

"Oh." I couldn't understand why Mary looked disappointed by this. "Well, you'd better head to bed, then." She suggested and I was taken aback. Was she trying to get rid of me?

"I..." I began, but I couldn't really think of a single reason why I should stay. "Yes, you're right. Goodnight, Mary."

"Goodnight, Sammy." She said, her eyes sad as she closed the door to her bedroom and left me standing in the hallway alone.

I couldn't fall asleep after that. All I could think about was the look on Mary's face when she told me goodnight. I spent the entire night tossing and turning. What was that look about? Did I do something to upset her? And, on top of all of that, I was nervous about my talk that I felt I needed to have with Leah. I only got maybe three hours of sleep before I was woken up by my Pack brothers.

The next morning, I was sitting in the living room waiting for Leah when I spotted my imprint. Embry went to breakfast as soon as the sun was up, knowing that Esme had started on the bacon and scrambled eggs at the crack of dawn. Seth never returned to the Dog House last night, presumably because he wanted to sleep outside Maitlin's window all night long.

"I'll catch up with you later." I said to Mary as I saw her headed towards the big house for breakfast or, in her case, family bonding time over starring at the wolves who were actually able to eat.

"Aw," she pouted in the most adorable way, "Aren't you going to get some breakfast with me?"

"I've got something I gotta take care of first." I said honestly. I just left out the part about what it was. It wasn't that I didn't think that Mary would approve. It was that I didn't want her to come with me when I did it. I felt like I had to work this out with Leah myself.

"I'll save you some bacon." Mary said, nodding slightly, though the frown stayed on her face. She was trying to figure out what my mystery errand could be, I knew from the way her brow was bunched together, but I simply smiled at her in return.

"Thanks, Mary." I replied. "Bacon's my favorite!"

"Uh-huh." She agreed, already having committed my favorite and least favorite foods to memory like I had with hers. "Just...just hurry, okay?"

I didn't like the tone of her voice, but I didn't ask her about her panic either. Knowing her, my imprint probably thought that I was mad at her or something ridiculous like that. As if I could be!

I waited until Greg and Peter headed towards the big house for food before I made my move. I knocked on Leah's door and waited...and waited...and waited.

Finally, I said, "I'm not leaving, you know. I can wait here all day."

"Go away, Sam, uh, Sammy." Leah said hastily. "Mary's over at the Compound for breakfast."

"I know where she is..." I said calmly, standing outside their shared room for another whole minute before the she-wolf opened their door angrily.

"If you know where she is, why are you here?" Leah looked like she had been crying, her dark skin flushed and her eyes puffy.

"I actually needed to talk to _you_." I said, watching shock flicker across her features for a brief second before she put on her mask again.

Leah scoffed. "What could you possibly have to talk to me about? Problems with your imprint?" She nearly sneered the word and I tried my best not to growl at her over it. She was just angry, as usual. But this time, I wasn't going to let it go like everyone else had for the past twenty years.

"You don't have to pretend." I told Leah. "I get it."

"Get what?" She asked with a scowl, one that I'm not even sure she even knew she was wearing. She was always scowling.

"You hate me." I said quietly yet honestly, watching her shock flicker across her face before she tried to deny the fact that I had hit a sore spot.

"I don't hat-" Leah began, but I cut her off.

"Yes, you do." I argued. "But it's okay. I understand why. And I'm not mad."

The tough she-wolf looked like she was about to cry. I had never seen her this upset. And she was definitely one who wasn't afraid to release all of her emotions.

"You're just like him, you know." Leah said after what felt like an eternity of silence.

"I know." I replied, running my hand through my hair. Everyone always commented on how much I took after my father. "But that doesn't mean that Embry is..."

"He's an unimpritned wolf, isn't he?" Leah asked rhetorically. "Then he's exactly like your father was when we were together...I can't go through that again."

"Embry is not my father." I argued. "And you know it."

"Yeah, well, from where I'm sitting, they're not so different." Leah scoffed, her wall up again.

"I know you hate my father for breaking your heart, but that was for the better." I said, trying not to lose my cool. If we were going to stand a chance against the Volturi, we couldn't have any of the members of our team angry at each other. And Leah was definitely holding a grudge against Embry...and a little at me.

"For the better?" Leah sneared. "I was in love with him! And he left me for my cousin! My very best friend!"

It was weird talking about my father like this, but I had to get this through to her. If she couldn't get over her pain over my father, then she could never accept Embry and we needed them to not be mad at each other for us to all focus.

"You weren't his soul mate!" I rhetorted. "You think you honestly could have been happy with my father? You think that you would be willing to stop phasing in order to give him the six children that he wanted? I know you, Leah. You're not the domestic housewife type. It would have killed you to have to give up the Pack for a guy that I_ know_ you weren't even sure that you were completely in love with."

"Wha-?" Leah shook her head. "I loved Sam and I'm sure that I would have been fine giving up the Pack."

"_No._ You wouldn't have. Or, if you did, you would be miserable. I know that you wouldn't have been happy as 'Sam's wife.'" I said sternly. "Because you love this: being your own kick-butt wolf in charge of her own destiny. And you love Embry. And you didn't love my father. Not really. Not enough."

"Who are you to tell me what I do and don't feel?" Now she was angry at me. Good. That meant she was listening to what I said.

"Because I've seen in your mind, remember?" I asked. "I've seen the feelings that you had for my father, as much as it embarrasses me, I know how he felt about you, too. And I know that it wasn't real...not like with how you and Embry feel about each other. Sam was your first love, I get that. But he wasn't your true love. And you weren't Sam's."

"Yeah, well, that might be true...but Embry isn't my true love either." Leah said, her face falling as she said the words outloud.

"You wanna know why Embry hasn't imprinted yet?" I asked slowly. "Because imprinting is supposed to point out your soul mate to you...and he doesn't need to imprint in order to tell him that you're his soul mate."

"Yeah, right." Leah scoffed, though I could see the hope in her eyes.

"I'm serious, Leah. You need to stop worrying about Embry imprinting." I said, looking her straight in the eyes. "He's in love with you in a way that my father never was. We've all been in their heads and can see the difference. I don't see how you can't. Stop letting something that didn't even mean that much to you effect what's actually _real_. You need to grow up, Leah. Stop screwing up the Pack because you're a scared little girl."

I left Leah, her mouth dropped open in disbelief, and went to find my imprint. I didn't want to waste a single moment of my time with her not by my side. Other than sleeping and whenever she had a family meeting, I was with Mary for the next three days. You can see why I was startled on Wednesday night.

"Can I talk to you a minute, Sammy?" One of the female Cullens asked me, coming seemingly out of nowhere. I admit that I jumped up in the air a little bit.

"Sure." I said as nonchalantly as I could. This was Mary's "Aunt Alice" and I knew better than to turn down the psychic's time, especially if she was the one to come find me.

"Tomorrow is the fight." Alice stated the obvious as if it was news to me. I rolled my eyes. I hated when the vamps did that. It made it seem like they thought everyone who wasn't a vampire was retarded.

"I know." I said, trying not to sound like I resented this particular vampire for that fact. It was that dumb blonde's fault we were all here, not Alice's.

"I just have a favor to ask...well, it's actually not a favor...it's a request." Alice stammered and I frowned. Vampires didn't get flustered on purpose and I knew that this was not a trait that the pixie would portray on purpose.

"Depends." I said, honestly. I wasn't about to sell my soul to a vamp without all of the facts, even if she is one of the good ones.

"Don't protect Mary." Alice said and I growled instinctively, my wolf not liking that idea at all.

"No. No way. I can't leave her defenseless." I argued. "I don't care what you saw. I won't do it."

"You have to!" Alice said, her golden eyes wide in shock. I don't think anyone had ever disagreed with her psychic abilities. "I've gotten a lot better at searching the futures of those connected to wolves. I'm eighty-nine percent sure that this is the best plan."

"Unless you can prove that Mary would be harmed if I do, then there's no way in hell that I'm going to agree to something like that." It pained me to even say the words, but I knew that Alice's visions were blurry whenever the wolves were involved. "She's the single most important person in the world. I want solid proof that she'd be harmed if I interfere."

"You'll catch the Volturi's eye." Alice said, her face looking as sad as I've ever seen the happy-go-lucky vamp. "The Cullens have been on their watch list for long before Nessie was born, but the last time that we encountered them, Edward picked up stray thoughts in Aro's mind about the Pack. They don't understand the wolf imprint bond, that much is obvious, but from this last vision I had, it's safe to assume that punishing Rose for creating Gemma is just a cover for their real motives. We're a tight-nit group of very unique creatures. Not only are there a lot of vampires, but we also have wolves and half-vampires on our side...and Mary. I know that Aro wishes that we'd all just surrender to him and all join his Guard. He'd especially like to get the wolves under his control as well."

"She's a vampire right now." I said, panic starting to rise in my chest. "She can't be hurt like she would be if she was human. You all agreed that it was safer this way. You all agreed."

"From Gemma and the new half-vamp converts, yes." Alice said. "But don't you see what she would be to Aro? He likes to collect rarities. Anyone special is instantly on his radar and he'll stop at nothing to get what he wants. A phasing vampire? Imagine the possibilities a coven like the Guard could do with her. I've seen some of those visions and trust me when I say that it is better that they all assume that she is just another young vampire that was changed by Rosalie."

"She looks too much like Jacob and Nessie for that ruse to ever work." I stated and Alice blinked, apparently having not thought about that.

"It's all we have." Alice said at last. "I know it is going to be difficult, but the longer that we can keep Mary out of Aro's radar, the better chance we have of all of us making it out alive."

"What if we run? What if Mary isn't here when the fight goes down?" I asked, desperate for anything to keep my imprint safe.

"The truth is...we need her here to fight." Alice stated reluctantly. "I've been trying to view the best possible outcomes and, as it stands, the best option right now is to present a united front. They're bringing their big guns and we need all of ours."

"I don't like this one bit." I growled. "If I agree to not protect Mary and something happens to her because of it, just know that I'm going for _your_ throat."

"I understand completely." Alice agreed.

I turned to leave but the vamp caught my arm with her icy little hand. "Let's not mention this to anyone, alright?"

"You have got to be kidding me!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in the air.

"I've talked to Jacob already and, of course, Edward knows. But the less people that know, the less panic it might create." She said it so logically.

"I have to go see Mary." I said angrily.

Alice closed her eyes and gave me a small smile and released my arm when she verified my future plans. "She's going to love her early birthday present."

"I already know that." I growled, angry that this vampire had gotten to me. I just wished that tomorrow was over already. I wanted to be back in La Push with Mary alright. That wasn't too much to wish for, was it? I didn't think so.

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><p><strong>AN: I promise that the Volturi will be in the next chapter, I just felt like Sammy had some things to say first.<strong>


	29. The Volturi

**AN: Is anybody still reading this? :( Sooooooooooo sorry! I feel like all I ever do is apologize for not posting sooner, but I'm a perfectionist and with the Volturi involved, I wanted this chapter to be perfect. They are not to be messed with.**

**Thank you all for your patience; I hope it is worth the wait.**

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><p>Sleeping is a difficult thing...well, when you're like me. I had to phased back to human during the night time or else I'd be dead in the morning (no pun intended). My body, while completely vampire during the day, does weird things if I don't acquire some normal human sleep. I'm not like a normal vampire that can run and run and run on no sleep for the rest of eternity. I need to fulfill the needs for my entire physiological self. Running on my vampire fumes wears me out if I don't switch from one to the other every now and then.<p>

Before I started phasing as regularly as I do now, I could remain human and not effect my body. Whenever I've gotten sleep and then phased, it's sort of like a battery charger: I feel like a much stronger Newborn than I would have if I kept my vampireness. I'm literally a Newborn...which means that I'd eventually start to lose my strength if I was constantly a vampire or, at least, that's what Carlisle suggested the other day when I first showed signs of weakening when I wasn't allowed to phase back on the first night.

Since Gemma was safely guarded in the Compound and Leah could sense a vampire in the area if one of the half-vampire sisters still learning control decided to make a midnight snack out of me, my parents decided that I was safe to remain human for sleeping hours. Besides, Leah couldn't sleep with me phased and I needed some actual sleep if I wanted to be at the top of my game for tomorrow's big showdown with the Volturi.

Anyways, I had just gotten snuggled up into bed after our final practice when someone knocked on the bedroom door.

"Go away." Leah growled, throwing her pillow at the door with the perfect aim of a werewolf in need of sleep.

"I promise I'll just be a minute." Sammy's voice. What did he want this late at night?

"It's late, Sammy." I said, hoping not to speak too loudly and spook Leah. The she-wolf was definitely not in the mood right now to be messed with. "Can it wait until tomorrow?"

"I, uh, please Mary? I'll make it quick." Sammy said vulnerably. Whatever it was that he had to tell me, it must be serious. Of course it was, though. The Volturi were coming tomorrow.

"You'd better go out and see the pup. He's never going to leave us alone until you do." Leah mumbled angrily into her remaining pillow, her dark eyes lifting open for barely a second to look at mine. The seriousness of that brief second was enough to convince me if Sammy's light pleading hadn't already done so.

I nodded, though Leah didn't see it, and slipped as quietly from my bed as I could. I shuffled into my fuzzy pink slippers and tied my robe tighter around my waist before opening the bedroom door. Sammy let out a small, almost inaudible sigh when he saw me.

"God, I've missed your eyes." Sammy blurted out, his deep brown eyes mirroring mine.

I blushed in response, feeling stupid that the heat rushing to my face shocked me after being phased for so long.

"And that." He said, touching my pink cheek lightly. "I've missed that a lot, too."

"Is that what you wanted to tell me?" I asked, my heartbeat fluttering at the feel of his hand on my face. He looked like he wanted to comment on the sound of my heartbeat that had been absent for the past week when I'd seen him, but he refrained. He smirked, though, so I knew what he was thinking. He had missed my heartbeat most of all.

"I can't protect you tomorrow, Mary." Sammy said, his hand covering his face as if this confession was supposed to shock me. He looked up at me when I didn't respond. "You knew this was the plan?"

I shook my head. "No. But I assumed as much." I stated honestly. "Really, it makes the most sense. Everyone is on their own out there. I shouldn't be an exception just because of my connection to so many people."

"I don't see how you can be so calm about all of this." Sammy said, standing up suddenly, his fists clenched at his side.

"I'm realistic, Sammy." I said, reaching out and grabbing my imprint's balled up fist. "I can't have the Volturi looking at me specially. To be a secret weapon, I have to be a secret."

"That's what Alice said." Sammy said, sinking back into the couch next to me.

I raised an eyebrow. "You spoke with Alice about this?"

"The pixie came to me." His voice was so sad and defeated. I didn't like it one bit. The fight seemed to leave him as soon as I confessed that I didn't need him. "She told me that I can't protect you because of Aro's interest in the wolves and because you're just too unique for your own good."

"It's all going to work out. I promise." I tried to reassure my imprint, but he was not having that.

"Let's run away. Now, before the battle starts. If we hop on a plane right now, our scents might not be traceable when the Volturi get here in the morning!" The life returned to his eyes as he tried to convince me of his plan. He seemed more desperate than I had ever seen him.

"I'm needed here. I can't abandon my family. No matter what the outcome is tomorrow, we will have all stood together. I can't leave now just because you're scared of the possibilities." I said calmly, watching the hope drain from his expressive eyes yet again.

"Yeah, I know." If he sounded defeated before, that was nothing to how he sounded now.

"It's going to all work out, Sammy." I repeated. "Don't worry."

My imprint scoffed. "How can I not worry when I have to leave you unprotected?"

"Do you not think that I can handle myself?" I asked, irritated at being treated like a child. "I might only be thirteen, but I know that I can handle this."

"You're almost fourteen." Sammy corrected. I don't know why my age seemed to be bothering him at this point when before the trip he didn't care.

I rolled my eyes. "Some birthday. Nothing says 'aren't you glad to be alive' like thirty bloodthirsty vampires battling it out with the people who mean the world to me. If I'm lucky, none of my family will be dead on Saturday and we can celebrate."

"You said that you thought it would all work out," Sammy pointed out, "so why would you expect your family members to not be there on Saturday?"

I shrugged. "I hope that things will all be fine and dandy...but I know that Aro wants my family. He wants them real bad, Sammy. I've already prepared myself for the events of each and every family member's death. I just hope that my doubts were all for nothing."

"I don't know how you do it." Sammy said, shaking his head. "You're not in denial like a lot of the Cullens seem to be. You're upfront about the possibilities. Even the ones that I don't want to think about."

"And which ones would that be?" I asked.

"I refuse to think about what would happen to me, your parents, your family, and the entire tribe if anything happened to you..." Sammy admitted into his shoulder, his face turned away from mine as he confessed this.

"Then I'll just have to survive this battle then, huh? So I can have the best birthday ever? That sound like a plan?" I said as lightly as I could. I don't think I'd be able to wake up tomorrow and go fight for my family if my imprint was this depressed about it. I couldn't risk worrying about him while we were all fighting for our lives.

Sammy nodded, turning slowly back towards me. His eyes looked puffy, making his sixteen years seem much less like an adult and more like a child. I smiled widely at him, knowing that he couldn't resist being happy when I was, and felt victory when he returned a small grin.

"Tomorrow will work out." I said again, more confidently this time, and stood up. "You have to think that way or you'll never get any sleep."

"Oh! Wait!" Sammy said, jumping out of his seat and nearly knocking me over in the process. I wasn't used to my human reflexes this late at night. "I've got something for you!"

"What is it?" I asked, smiling at his excitement.

He pulled a small red box out of his pocket and placed it in my hand. "Open it and see."

"It's not my birthday yet." I said, protesting the gift even as I opened it up. It was a sterling silver charm bracelet with two unique charms on it: a pink half of a heart with "BFF" written in black letters and a tiny black wolf's paw.

"So is this what you dragged me out of bed for?" I said with a deadpanned expression. His face fell and I nearly burst out laughing right there. "I'm just kidding! I love it, Sammy, really I do." I reached over and gave him a hug to let him know that I really meant it.

"Here, help me put it on." I advised, placing my the bracelet around my right wrist. It took him two tries to clasp the little snap, but when he finally got it, I beamed up at him.

"You really like it?" Sammy asked.

"I love it." I corrected him with another grin. "I can't wait to collect more charms from you for it."

I went to bed with my spirits high but when I woke up, that illusion was shattered. We were all up before the sun rose, just waiting in the Compound for a word from Alice. I paced back and forth, too nervous to sit for even a second.

I don't know why, but I kept glancing at the wolves. I think I needed to reassure myself that they were still there. Greg, Sammy, Peter, and Leah were sitting on the floor facing the middle of the room. Embry and Dad were leaning against the couch facing them, as they made last minute battle plans. I stepped over all of their outstretched legs every time I did another lap of pacing.

I finally couldn't handle the anticipation anymore so I sat on the wall with them, next to my cousin on the end. I glanced at the row of Protectors again.

"Quit that." Peter said, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

"Quit what?" I asked.

"Stop looking at us like it's the last time you're going to see us. If Sammy catches that look, he'll freak out and do something crazy to keep you safe." Peter advised.

"When did you get so smart?" I asked rhetorically. Though he was only a year older than I was, his fifteen years seemed a hell of a lot more wise than my barely fourteen.

"I've always been this smart." Peter teased, sticking out his tongue. I swatted at his arm, laughing as he did.

The playful air was suddenly sliced in half when Alice whispered two little words. "They're here."

And suddenly, it was like we hadn't already all said our "I love you"s and "stay safe"s. I must have hugged every member of my family again, even giving Nahuel an awkward hug as he went to say a "be careful" to my mother.

"Baby, don't you worry about a thing." Nessie said, having gotten out of her own awkward hug with Nahuel. Her arms wrapped around my torso as she gave me yet another hug. She rested her chin on the top of my head as she continued to talk. "We're going to all be okay, I promise. You just fight like we taught you. And try not to draw attention to yourself."

"And what happens when they notice me?" I whispered into her shoulder. I hadn't felt scared until this moment, but a sudden shudder of terror ripped through my body. "Mommy, what will I do if they target me?"

"Shhh. Sweetie, it's going to be okay." Nessie whispered into my hair, her voice not as confident as it had been moments before. "Just fight like we taught you and we'll be there to help protect you. We'd never let anything happen to you, Mary."

"I love you, Mommy." I said, suddenly feeling like this might be our last encounter together.

Renesmee pulled away from me, her forever-young face staring at the finality of mine. "Mary, I love you too." She raised an eyebrow. "But, I will love you when you're alive tomorrow, too. Now, wipe that expression off of your face. We're all going to be okay."

"Okay, Mommy." I said, tightening my grip on her waist so that we could hug once more. I felt three years old again and that was okay with me. My mom was going to protect me like she always did and we would all be okay. We had to be.

"Hey, don't you start crying." A warm familiar voice said, deep and husky.

"I can't cry." I said, turning around to wrap my little arms around my dad's waist. "Not like this anyways." I gestured to my deep red eyes, indicating that I was all vamp-ed up for the fight.

"Well, I was talking to your mother," Jacob said, looking over my head at his imprint with concern in his eyes, "but I wouldn't want you crying, either."

"I love you, Daddy." I said, hugging my werewolf father with all of my vampire strength. He let out a quiet "oof" as I tightened my grip accidently.

"I love you, too, kiddo." Jacob loosened our bear-hug and placed his hands on my shoulders. "You know that we won't let anything happen to you, right?"

"I know that." I said half-heartedly. I knew how this was going to end, though. I could feel it in my bones. Tomorrow morning, I wasn't going to be with my all of my family, one way or the other.

Jacob looked at my eyes, concern written all over his face. But before he could say anything else, I wiggled out of his grip.

"I have to go find Sammy real quick." I said, using my imprint as an excuse. I couldn't bare to have my father knowing exactly what I was thinking...and the doom that I had already accepted.

"Okay, Mary. We'll meet you on the battle field." Dad said, his eyes still boring into mine. I turned away and didn't look back until I knew that he had become occupied with my mother's doubts and fears instead of mine. I saw them kissing from across the room, their foreheads touching as Dad seemed to be whispering something to her that made her crack a smile for the first time all day.

"Sammy?" I asked, calling out through the thick mass of shapeshifters and vampires. Even though it was a ruse to get away from my father, I now really felt like I needed to see my imprint.

"Mary, hey!" Sammy said, and I was giving him a hug instantly. I wasn't sure if I was imagining it when I felt his lips against the edge of my hairline on my forehead, but I didn't care. I had this overwhelming feeling that I wasn't going to see him after today so the fact that I was imagining my best friend kissing my forehead seemed like a good imaginary farewell gesture.

We didn't get a chance to say anything else to each other because Leah herded us outside. Sammy went to join the wolves on both sides of my family. I was placed in the back near Alice and my mother, with Jasper and Emmett in the front with Edward and Carlisle. Esme and Rosalie were in the center guarding Gemma.

When the Volturi entered the clearing, it was just as expected. I counted thirty-two red-eyed vampires, just like I was right now. Aro, Caius, and Marcus were in the front center, with the wives behind them and the rest of the Guard around them. I recognized Alec and Jane, standing to the right, nearly parallel to me. Chelsea, the bond-breaker, was on the left of Marcus, next to the buff Felix and sexy Heidi. I looked for Demetri and Renata but couldn't make out their faces in the sea of black hoods.

Thirty-two against the twenty-two of us. Though with Nahuel, Huilen, Maitlin, and Ceciely unexpectedly on our side, we still didn't have nearly enough fighters since most of our rag-tag team consisted of young wolves without fighting experience, half-vampires, and me.

"Good morning, friends." Aro greeted our clan of misfits. "So long since our last encounter! Good to see that you are all alive and well. Alice, you look as lovely as ever. And, young Renesmee, you're all grown up! I see that immortality has done you well." Aro's favorites remained quiet.

"Aro, what brings you to London?" Carlisle asked calmly. "And with so many traveling companions?" He raised an eyebrow, pretending to just now notice the rest of the Guard.

"A little birdie told me that one of your own had created an immortal child." Aro stated. "And, with all of the fuss that dear little Renesmee caused oh so long ago, I had to come check it out immediately."

"A little birdie?" Carlisle asked, trying to keep Aro talking. Once the action started, there would be no stopping it.

"Ah, yes, and ever did her blood _sing _once her message was delivered." Aro grinned, his pale pasty face crinkling with the full extent of it. It was really creepy, that's for sure. "It was a shame to have to let a good sing-song go to waste, but she was just too tempting to turn down."

"A human, then?" Edward asked, supplying his own crooked grin in mockery. "That's your reliable source?"

"You will all stand punishment for this crime." Caius stated, not bothering to hide the Volturi's intentions. He never was one much for games.

"We have done nothing wrong." My grandfather said, holding out his hand for Aro to check his thoughts and intentions but Aro just waved him away.

"Ah, your words are powerful...but your voice betrays you, Edward." Aro deducted. I was surprised that Aro could catch that subtlety. Though we all stood behind Rose and her choice to turn Gemma, it was no secret that not everyone truly approved of my aunt's selfish actions.

"Surely you are not all in agreement, then. Do tell me, where is the little Newborn who has caused such a disturbance among my favorite coven?" Aro spoke loudly, in a way-too-cheerful tone, clapping his hands together to signal that he was ready for his own games. I imagined him hunting Gemma down and torturing her for an eternity just because he could.

"Ah. Found you." Another face-splitting grin as he pointed at Gemma between Esme and Rosalie. "Now which nurturing Cullen wife decided to have a little Cullen spawn of her own? Esme, surely you have your hands full with the lot that you have now. No, no. It couldn't be you. Carlisle knows better." A stern look from Carlisle proved his point, that defiance in my great-grandfather's eyes was something that I rarely got to see.

"Rosalie, darling, stand proud of your little Newborn." Aro said, laughing in a creepy way that only a vampire as old as he is could make. He was mocking Rosalie.

Aunt Rose stiffened, but stood up slightly straighter.

"Come here, the both of you." Aro commanded, though with that fake-friendly voice that seemed condescending.

Rose stepped forward, Gemma behind her. Emmett instantly moved with them, standing behind Gemma in a protective barrier. Even though I bet he wanted to protect his mate more, he knew that Rosalie would never forgive him if something happened to Gemma.

"Ahhhh, such a lovely child you are." Aro said, taking in Gemma's short stature, not yet fully formed into the teen she should have been if Rose hadn't stepped in with our own version of fate.

"You are horriblé. I do not care what you have to say about me." Gemma hissed, pulling her hand away before Aro could touch her, her thick French accent making such a normal sentence sound foreign. She stepped out in front of her 'mother' and took a defiant stance. Emmett instantly moved closer to both Rose and Gemma so that he was in line with them, an equal front.

"What happened, dear Rosalie? Trying out the local cuisine, were we?" Aro teased Rosalie, taking Gemma's comment as nothing more than a whisper in the wind.

"Gemma wasn't a meal. She is my _daughter_. I only bit Gemma to_ save_ her." Rosalie looked like she would take on the entire Volturi by herself if they doubted her bond to the preteen.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic, Miss Cullen." Aro said, a smile on his lips. "You and I both know that you changed this young thing for your own good."

The silence was deafening.

"You wanted a child long before Edward wed young Bella. Do not try to deny it now, Rosalie." Aro charged. "This was a selfish act and one that must be punished accordingly."

"Gemma was an orphan living on the streets of Paris, practically dead _already_." My aunt all but hissed. A defensive Rose was not good. Though, it probably would help when the fighting started. We needed her vengeance. "I did her a_ favor_ by changing her to our lifestyle. I acted alone and should be punished alone, if the verdict comes to that."

"No one cares about her history." Caius said, his voice more scratchy than Aro's and not nearly as faux friendly. "The facts remain regardless of the motives."

"How right you are, brother." Aro said, smiling brightly. He turned back to Rosalie with an almost childlike grin. "The fact is, you created an immortal child and that must be dealt with."

"But I-" Rose started, but was cut off.

"Don't try to hide the other Newborn." Cauis said in a bored tone. "We can all see her."

If I hadn't been phased, my heart would be beating uncontrollably as all of the eyes of both groups landed on me.

"You will pay for this trick, Miss Cullen." Aro said, a smile on his lips as he stroked Rose's cheek. Her grip tightened on one of Gemma's shoulders and Emmett's hand wrapped tighter around his mate's waist, as if he was trying to make them into one person.

"I didn't create Mary." Rosalie hissed defensively. "I take full credit for creating Gemma. But Mary. Is. Not. Mine."

"Come forward, child." Aro insisted, I looked at Alice with panic in my eyes...should I do this? She nodded slightly, almost too fast for my eyes to catch it. "I want your creator to stand forward, as well."

Before I could get one step forward, my mother grabbed my hand. I looked up at her big brown eyes as she tried to hide the fear in them. When the two of us reached the front of the field, the surprise in Aro's eyes was evident.

"You created this Newborn, young Renesmee?" The way that he said it, it was almost like her name was Young Renesmee. I could tell from his expression that he didn't expect his favorite half-vampire to have bitten a human child. Rosalie? We all understood that one. But even Aro was thrown for a loop right now.

"How is that even possible?" Marcus asked, speaking for the first time, his voice expressing all of the disbelief that the entire Guard must be feeling.

"Female half-breeds are not venomous." Aro stated, trying not to get irritated with the not-knowing of it all. "That has been proven. It was one of the reasons that the baby Cullen was allowed to live twenty years ago."

"It is true. I am not venomous." Mom stated in a rational manner. If Aro was human, I would be able to see the blood veins popping in his neck from frustration.

"Then you lied about creating her!" Aro said in a tantrum-like voice. He was really getting irritated now.

"Mary is my flesh and blood." Nessie said calmly. I think she was pretending like it wasn't that big of a deal so that Aro wouldn't want me as badly. "Mary is my own just as I am my mother's."

"A birth from a hybrid?" Marcus asked, surprise replacing the boredom that usually occupied his face. "How is that even possible?"

"Oh, this is wonderful news, brothers!" Aro exclaimed. The bi-polar vampire seeming to have chosen excitement instead of anger. "Hybrid women can breed. Now we know much more about our own kind."

"Brother, focus." Caius warned.

"Ah, you are right again." Aro smiled back towards us. "I do tend to lose track of my attention, dear ones. You must forgive me. Now, about these Newborn children..."

"Gemma and Mary are not immortal children. Gemma is the same age as Alec and Jane, and yet you would not _dare_ call _them_ immortal children. Mary grows older each day like her mother did. Both girls are harmless and Gemma is learning to adopt our lifestyle and will soon be as stable as Bella has proven herself." Rosalie stated honestly. "The Volturi have no reason to be here."

"Feisty, Miss Cullen, I like it." Aro teased, causing Emmett to take a step forward in front of his girls. "But you are wrong. Though young Renesmee's Newborn appears to be stable, she is the first of her kind and the unknown is to be feared."

I wasn't the only one to notice that he didn't mention Gemma in this speech. I was the new tactic for the Volturi to slaughter my family.

"Aro, no!" Nessie screamed, blocking my body with hers even though I was the more powerful one when I was phased. "Please, she's my baby! Don't do this! She's not a danger to anyone, I swear."

"She is an_ unknown_, young Renesmee." For the first time, Aro looked remorseful. "The Volturi must destroy the unknown. It is the law."

"It doesn't have to be that way." Carlisle said calmly. "Let us talk this through."

"What more is there to discuss?" Caius asked rhetorically. "The facts are clear: The Volturi protect the world from knowing our existence and this unknown could be a threat to that."

"That's it, then? Your minds are made up?" Alice spoke for the first time since we all took our battle stances. She had been tasked with trying to see around the wolves and hybrids to calculate the Volturi's next moves.

"They must be if you say it is, Alice-dear." Aro smiled, his head nodding slightly.

And then it was on.

The battle that we had been waiting for.

All at once, the Guard shot forward. The wolves ripped through some of the non-gifted ones, but those with special abilities were much more difficult to attack. Emmett and Felix locked in head-to-head battle, each one proving his own strength as they tore each other limb-from-limb only to have their

Bella was shielding us from Jane and Alec's torments, but that would only last as long as she could remain focused. Even after twenty years of practicing, she still has limited control over her shield when she gets distracted.

Our side was winning for a while in the beginning. Things were actually looking up. Between Jasper's soldier battle skills, Alice and Edward's ability to take down an opponent by seeing what the other was about to do, and Emmett's brute strength, we actually seemed to have an advantage. Not to mention, the wolves were handling themselves in battle like the warriors they were born to be.

The first casualty on our side died for love and as far as I'm concerned, I think that would have been a much better reason to leave my family forever.

Demetri bite a chunk of skin off of the wolf that he was fighting with's back and the blood ran down his side and got matted in his fur.

"Seth, no!" Maitlin screamed, spotting Seth's limp body from across the yard. She was at his side in an instant, throwing her body on top of his shaking form.

"It's...so...cold..." Seth's teeth chattered as the blood loss started to kick in. I couldn't tell from this far away, but he must have gotten bitten to have been this down for the count so quickly. Either that, or the chunk went much deeper than it appeared.

"I've waited a hundred and fifty-eight years for you, Seth. You're not going to screw this up for me." Maitlin's eyes were filled with tears, her voice barely a whisper. "You can't die on me."

"Maitlin, get out of the way!" Ceciely shouted, trying to urge her sister out of harm's way. The Volturi were still swarming us.

"Nooo!" The half-vampire screamed in anguish. "I won't leave Seth!"

"We've got to get out of the way. That vampire will come back." Ceciely begged her sister, panic in her voice.

And come back, Demetri did.

He tore into Ceciely like he ripped apart Seth's side. Being a half-vampire instead of a full one made her death seem almost...human. He was aiming for Maitlin who was still crouched over Seth, but Ceciely stepped in front of her sister. She protected her baby sister in the last moments of her life.

After that, we seemed to get vengeful all together. Losing one of our own was painful. Even though we all went into this together knowing that we weren't promised to get out of this alive, Ceciely's death made that statistic real to us.

It wasn't until Bella got sideswiped by a random Guard member and lost her grip for just a few moments that everything started going terribly, terribly wrong.

Jane took her revenge instantly. While Edward was killing the random Guard member that scratched his wife, Jane sent her shockwave of pain to hurt Bella.

"Take that, you little b-" Jane taunted. "Thought that you could take away my power, did you? Well, how do you like me now?"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaahhh!" Edward continued to scream as Jane tortured him to get to Bella.

"Momma, you have to turn the shield back on!" Nessie commanded, throwing the head of a Guard member into the growing fire pit of random body parts as she ran towards my grandmother.

"Nessie, I can't!" Bella cried, looking like a lost child if ever I saw one.

"Then end her." Nessie said, her eyes dark with hatred. "Jane is hurting Daddy! He can't take much more."

"I can't..." Bella cried.

"Then I will." My mother stepped forward to snap Jane's neck when Jane turned her head and shot out her other hand.

"Aaaaaaaaaaggghhh!" Nessie yelled as pain shot through her body.

It's ironic that I was the one who finally decapitated Jane. I love my grandmother, but I don't think I can ever look at Bella the same again. Letting both her husband and her daughter be tortured while she stood by falling apart? I never thought of any of my family members as weak until that moment.

As soon as Jane was out of the picture, her head sitting at the top of the pile of vampire body parts and the rest of her limbs spread around the field, Bella finally managed to get control of her shield again. But by that time, Alec had done his own damage...and so had Chelsea. The little bond breaker couldn't disconnect the bonds between mates, but she did manage to untie Alice and Jasper from our group. They started attacking us as soon as their loyalties were switched due to Chelsea's control.

That was when Alec grabbed me.

"You killed my sister...now I'm going to kill you."


	30. Feels Like Death

_Previously: _

_The little bond breaker couldn't disconnect the bonds between mates, but she did manage to untie Alice and Jasper from our group. They started attacking us as soon as their loyalties were switched due to Chelsea's control._

_That was when Alec grabbed me._

* * *

><p>"You killed my sister...now I'm going to kill you." Alec hissed, his grip on my neck tightening. "You might be a little Newborn creation...but I have years of experience in killing little brats just like you."<p>

"I-gah-I'm-uuugh-diff-gah-rent." I choked out.

"That's right. Because your mother was a half-vampire. How does it make you feel to know that nearly everyone here is superior to you? Hurts, doesn't it?" Alec taunted. "Three quarters vampire, I assume? You must have a vampire father. I mean, surely, you're not mostly human with this much vampire in your eyes."

"Can't-gah-breathe." I said, grasping for air. Though as a vampire I didn't need to breathe all of the time, I still needed air occasionally. Like now, for instance.

"Can't have you dying quickly, you're right." Alec said, loosening his grip on my neck slightly. "On the contrary; I want you to _suffer_."

"My father is a werewolf, not a vampire." I admitted once I took a few deep breaths. I don't know why I was telling him anything, but I didn't want him thinking that my father wasn't my father. I guess I get the territorial thing from my dad like that.

"You really are a mutt, then." Alec mused. "Aro would be so fascinated by you...if only you were going to survive this battle." I felt his breath hot against my neck. "I'm afraid I just can't let that happen, though. You see, I loved my sister very much. And you? I could care less about you. But making you suffer, yes, I think I'll rather enjoy that."

A growl from behind us broke Alec's concentration and he turned us so that we could both stare at the wolf who distracted him. _Sammy._

"Is this the dog that your mother had the misfortune of falling for? I can't really see what the draw would be. But, then again, I am a sane person." Alec sneered, glaring at my imprint as if whoever my father was was the cause of all of his pain. Didn't he know that I was the one who destroyed his family a minute ago?

"That's my friend. But he's a much better person than you or any of the Guard." I shot back angrily. How dare he make fun of any of the wolves! They were warriors bent on protecting innocent lives. The Volturi only cared about protecting themselves.

"Don't make me any angrier than I already am." Alec hissed, tightening his grip once again.

"Just-uuggh-do-gah-it." I replied. If I was going to die. I'd rather get it over with. Sammy was no match for a vampire as old or as powerful as Alec. I just prayed that he would leave before he got himself killed trying to protect me.

'Goodbye, Sammy' I mouthed, hoping that he caught my words. I couldn't leave this earth without saying goodbye to my imprint. I wished that I had enough time to talk to my parents one more time, but that was what this morning was for. Whatever the outcome of this battle, we had all been prepared for it.

But, of course, being my stubborn imprint, he had to try to rescue me. He took exactly one step forward before Alec got angry that a werewolf was moving in on his territory and, ultimately, his kill.

"One more move and I'll snap her neck like she did to my sister." Alec threatened. Sammy growled in response, taking another step closer...

"Alec, son, why are you holding the Newborn like that?" Aro asked, his red eyes eyeing us curiously. He looked unscathed from the battle, but I hoped that it was only a matter of time before he would get taken down himself. "She is a _special_ one."

There was that stupid word again. Even in death, I couldn't avoid my special-ness.

"But, Father...she killed Jane." Alec defended himself.

"By herself?" was Aro's only response. "How very interesting."

"Does it not matter to you that Jane is dead?" Alec accused angrily.

"Temper, young one. Sisters are easily replaced." Aro brushed it off. "But I will say that Jane's talents will be missed."

"As you wish, Father." Alec's voice was hard and bitter, but he complied nonetheless.

"Finish this mutt off and then go help your Brothers. I'll handle this one. You just put her under your spell and keep her there." Aro's voice was the last thing I heard. The last thing that I remember hearing, anyways.

"Why can't I see anything? Where am I?" I cried, wishing that I were human so that I could cry real tears.

I felt hands on me. Cold ones.

It wasn't exactly that I _felt_ hands, but that I knew that that's what it was on my body.

"Stop it! Don't touch me! Put me down!" I screamed, but no one was listening. Or could listen. I know that if my family had been nearby or been able to hear me, they would have come and gotten me. Instead, I screamed with all of my might and still no one came to save me.

No one could hear what I said.

Why wasn't my family here? Where was I?

No matter how loud I screamed, I couldn't be heard.

I wasn't in control of any of my senses, I realized with a jolt.

Alec had me under his spell.

Oh, god. Was this what dying felt like?

I just wanted to see my family one more time. I couldn't help but say little prayers to them as my body shut itself down.

_Daddy, why haven't you rescued me? You're supposed to be the one to chase away my nightmares when I'm scared. It's real, Daddy, and I'm scared. _

_Mommy, I love you guys. Please know that. You've always been on my side no matter who you had to battle against. Please, be on my side now. _

_Sammy, I think I might love you... _


	31. Sammy's POV: The Ultimate Choice

**AN: I know you all are dying to know what happened to Mary...so who better to tell it than her imprint? Thank you to everyone who reviews all the time; I really get more motivated to post quicker when I have support. Anyways, enjoy this chapter. Hope it doesn't disappoint! **

* * *

><p>Sammy's POV<p>

"They're here." Alice whispered two little words and suddenly I couldn't breathe. I couldn't do this. I had to get out of here. Why did I agree to this? I was just a young wolf with his whole life ahead of him. Mary. Right. I could never leave Mary. Bond to the Pack aside, I could never abandon this mission. What if something were to happen to my imprint? I would never be able to live with myself. I doubted I'd be able to live at all.

Jacob's giant hand touched my shoulder and I nearly jumped out of my skin, I had been thinking so hard. "Easy, there. Save those reflexes for the battle field."

"I'm ready." I lied, rolling my shoulders back so that I was standing a little taller.

"You're sixteen and a new wolf. There's no way that you're ready for this." Jacob admitted. "I know that I wasn't ready when Victoria and her Newborn army attacked Forks. I was just a kid...and so are you."

"I can handle this. I have to." I said, trying not to sneer at my Alpha. Who did he think he was? I wasn't a kid anymore. That changed the second that I phased and realized my birthright. You can't be a killer and a child at the same time.

"For your imprint, I know." Jacob said with a small chuckle. But it seemed darker than usual. "I have a request for you, actually."

"Anything." I answered automatically. My Alpha asked for something and I would grant it.

"I need you to take care of Mary if anything happens to her mother or I." Jacob said, his dark eyes on mine.

"Sir, I can't..." I knew what he was implying. They would sacrifice themselves if it came to keeping Mary safe during this battle, regardless of what Alice had predicted about not protecting Mary during the battle to keep the Volturi off of her track.

"You can and you will. Mary needs protection and you are the most qualified if Ness and I aren't around. You are going to be with her for the rest of her life, Sammy. This is my way of telling you not to screw it up." Jacob stated honestly.

"Wouldn't it be better that she stay with her own kind?" I asked. I couldn't believe what he was asking. Of course, I would always protect Mary. But this seemed different. I think he was giving me his blessing.

"Sammy, you are her imprint. And she is yours." Jacob said. I think that was the first time he had said it out loud. "I've never heard of a double imprinting...but there's never been anyone like Mary before. We have to protect her, no matter what. I need to know that I can count on you to keep her safe after the battle."

"You can count on me, sir." I agreed.

"Please, you're practically family now. You can call me Jacob." That lopsided grin that Mary sometimes had graced his face.

"Just be careful out there, Jacob...she needs you, too." I warned, knowing how devastated Mary would be if she found out that she was the reason that her parents died today. God forbid.

"I have to go. I can feel the tears starting." My Alpha said, his ears perking up. "I have to go find my Ness. I'll talk to you later, Sammy."

"Sammy?" Mary was looking for me. I searched for her in the crowd, watching the top of her head make its way across the room.

"Mary, hey!" I said, trying not too sound too panicked. The conversation with her dad had rattled me, I was afraid to say.

I was surprised when her arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me into a hug, but I wasn't about to stop my best friend from feeling scared to lose me. There was so much that I felt like I needed to tell her. But instead, I kissed the top of her head and said a little prayer that it would all be okay. I couldn't stand the thought of Mary losing her parents. I'd die before I let anything upset her.

Mary was in the back, protected on the sides by the psychic vampire and Nessie; the little Newborn that was the cause of all this trouble was standing in front of them in the center, guarded by her creator and the sweet Esme; all of the actual fighters were in the front guarding them: Edward, Emmett, Jasper, and Carlisle.

I hate to admit it, but the sight of thirty-two red-eyed vampires in the flesh (or, sort of) was a lot scarier than thirty-two red-eyed vampires in theory.

"Good morning, friends. So long since our last encounter! Good to see that you are all alive and well. Alice, you look as lovely as ever. And, young Renesmee, you're all grown up! I see that immortality has done you well."

_Don't talk about my wife like that_. Jacob growled lightly.

_You know that they can't hear you, right?_ Embry asked calmly, though there was a seriousness behind it.

_No one is allowed to talk about my Ness like that. She's not a piece of meat._ Jacob snapped back.

"Aro, what brings you to London?" Carlisle asked calmly.

"A little birdie told me that one of your own had created an immortal child." Aro stated. "And, with all of the fuss that dear little Renesmee caused oh so long ago, I had to come check it out immediately."

_Nessie wasn't the one who made any trouble. It was you._ Jacob growled again, his left front paw stepping forward slightly.

_You need to chill out. He can't even hear you. We can't be the first ones to move._ Leah advised with irritation. As Beta, it was her job to make sure the Alpha stayed in line...which he wasn't really doing right now.

_He's already this riled up and the battle hasn't even started yet. Typical._ Embry said with an eye roll, more to Leah and her brother than to anyone else.

_Jake, knock it off, you're scaring the pups._ Leah growled back at Mary's father.

_It's good, though. We're going to need his rage whenever the battle actually does start._ Seth piped up, always the optimistic one.

"You will all stand punishment for this crime." The one that I think was named Caius said, looking like he was more bored than a kid on the last day of school.

"We have done nothing wrong." Edward stated.

"Ah, your words are powerful...but your voice betrays you, Edward." Aro deducted. "Surely you are not all in agreement, then. Do tell me, where is the little Newborn who has caused such a disturbance among my favorite coven?"

"Ah. Found you. Rosalie, darling, stand proud of your little Newborn." Aro laughed. He was mocking blonde vamp, not that I could blame him. I was on the Cullens' side 100% because of my loyalties to the Pack and to Mary, but that didn't mean that I accepted what Mary's aunt had done. "Come here, the both of you."

Rose stepped forward, Gemma behind her. Emmett instantly moved with them, standing behind Gemma in a protective barrier.

"What happened, dear Rosalie? Trying out the local cuisine, were we?" Aro teased Rosalie some more. This guy really didn't understand boundaries But I doubt that he much cared for them anyways.

"Gemma wasn't a meal. She is my _daughter_. I only bit Gemma to_ save_ her. Gemma was an orphan living on the streets of Paris, practically dead _already_. I did her a_ favor_ by changing her to our lifestyle. I acted alone and should be punished alone, if the verdict comes to that."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic, Miss Cullen. You and I both know that you changed this young thing for your own good. You wanted a child long before Edward wed young Bella. Do not try to deny it now, Rosalie. This was a selfish act and one that must be punished accordingly."

"No one cares about her history. The facts remain regardless of the motives." Caius stated, breaking up their little spat. "Don't try to hide the other Newborn. We can all see her."

"You will pay for this trick, Miss Cullen." Aro said, a smile on his lips as he stroked Rose's cheek.

"I didn't create Mary." Rosalie hissed defensively. "I take full credit for creating Gemma. But Mary. Is. Not. Mine."

_She's mine. How could he think that Rose would be stupid enough to create two Newborn children? Couldn't Aro see that Mary was mine? _Jacob growled, losing control of his thoughts as he let his emotions take over.

_Jake, you need to calm down._ Leah said, trying to calm down our Alpha. As Beta, it was her job to keep him from attacking the Volturi before they made their first move.

I should have cared about Jacob losing it, but all I could think about was the scared look on Mary's face as she was singled out. Her mother grabbed her hand in comfort, though, so at least one of her parents was able to comfort her.

"Come forward, child." Aro insisted, "I want your creator to stand forward, as well."

_Jacob, don't do anything..._ Leah warned, knowing full well that that was exactly what our Alpha most wanted to do.

_But Mary...and Nessie... _Jacob whined as he watched the two most important girls in his life take center stage with that psychopath. I knew it was really difficult for him to watch them like that. Heck, it was difficult for me to see my best friend up there. But they could handle themselves. I had to believe that or I wouldn't be able to get through the rest of this day not by her side.

"You created this Newborn, young Renesmee?" Aro asked in disbelief. "Female half-breeds are not venomous. That has been proven. It was one of the reasons that the baby Cullen was allowed to live twenty years ago."

"Mary is my flesh and blood." Nessie said calmly. "Mary is my own just as I am my mother's."

"A birth from a hybrid?" The third Volturi leader looked as shocked as the rest of the Guard. "How is that even possible?"

"Oh, this is wonderful news, brothers!" Aro exclaimed. "Hybrid women can breed. Now we know much more about our own kind. Now, about these Newborn children..."

"The Volturi have no reason to be here." The blonde declared. Yeah, because her word would just instantly change the Volturi's minds.

"Ah, but you are wrong." Aro's frown was disconcerning. He wasn't seriously about to pretend that he cared about what happened to Mary, did he? "Though young Renesmee's Newborn appears to be stable, she is the first of her kind and the unknown is to be feared."

"Aro, no! Please, she's my baby! Don't do this! She's not a danger to anyone, I swear." Nessie screamed, flinging her body in front of Mary's. I could tell that Jacob and I were both having the same thought: why the hell weren't we in the center with them to protect them?

"She is an_ unknown_, young Renesmee. The Volturi must destroy the unknown. It is the law." Each time he said it, I felt worse and worse. Who was he to tell everyone what the laws were? The Volturi were nothing but bullies. Just because they were older and had more members didn't actually make for a good reason for them to be in charge, as far as I was concerned.

"It doesn't have to be that way." Carlisle said calmly. "Let us talk this through."

"What more is there to discuss?" Caius asked rhetorically. "The facts are clear: The Volturi protect the world from knowing our existence and this unknown could be a threat to that."

"That's it, then? Your minds are made up?" Alice spoke for the first time since we all took our battle stances. This was it. I took in a deep breath, knowing that I would need it once this all started, and locked eyes with Mary one more time. This was for her. She had to know that. As much influence as Nessie has over the Pack, Mary has three times that. None of us would be here if it weren't for Mary's little runaway attempt.

"They must be if you say it is, Alice-dear." Aro smiled, his head nodding slightly.

And then it was on.

The battle that we had been waiting for.

I kept my eyes focused on what was ahead of me and tried to block out what was going on around me. It was kind of difficult to shut out the voices inside my head thanks to the Packmind, though.

_Attack!_

_Oh, god. I can't believe I signed up for this._

_Don't just stand there, Greg. You have to advance before they do._

_Lee, help me corner this bloodsucker, will ya? _

_Kinda busy, Em. Deal with it yourself._

_I'll do it. Let me just finish this one off._

_Thanks, kid. _

_Kill, kill, kill...how many bloodsuckers am I going to kill? _

_Leah, that's not funny._

_At least I've managed to take mine out. What about you, Peter? How many have you gotten rid of?_

_-no reply-_

_That's what I thought. So shut up and take matters into your own hands._

_Shut up! _

_Good. Get mad. Mad at the bloodsuckers who made you this way. Mad at th- Wow. __Ouch. That's gonna leave a mark...or not. Depending on if she can find her head later or not. *laugh* Nice one, dude. _

_Leah, stop joking around. _

_Sorry, Oh Mighty Alpha. I was just trying to lighten the mood._

_Oh, god. That felt sooo good. _

_Enjoy the rush, kid. This is one of the few perks of being a wolf. Killing vampires._

_I can't believe that son of a biscuit actually bite me! _

_Seth, don't worry, I'll take care of him. _

_It's...so...cold..._

_Um, Jake, I think Seth is in trouble._

_**Seth, Seth, buddy, keep your eyes open.** That's an order! _

_Jake, oh sh-. I think my brother's really hurt._

_Seth, kiddo, you have to phase back. _

_But it's...so...cold, Jake. _

_I know, buddy. But you **phase back** and then everything will be better._

_Oh, god. Please don't let my brother die. _

_Everyone.** Focus. We have vampires to kill. **Seth is in Maitlin's hands. She'll keep him safe until we can assess the situation. In the meantime, let's make those bloodsuckers pay for ever messing with this family. _

I managed to get three Guard members down before I heard screaming from across the yard. I looked up briefly to see the young blonde from the Guard torturing Nessie and Edward while Bella just stood watching. I was about to go lend a helping paw when, out of nowhere, my brave little Mary snuck up behind Jane and ripped her head off.

For a split second, I felt like we could actually win this. That was when I saw the other Volturi twin grab Mary by her neck. I about lost it. I abandoned the half destroyed vampire at my feet and ran towards my imprint. I didn't care about anything but trying to protect Mary from that bloodsucker.

"...though." I came up behind Mary, watching that creep with his hands around her neck still, his face much too close to hers for my liking. "You see, I loved my sister very much. And you? I could care less about you. But making you suffer, yes, I think I'll rather enjoy that."

I growled, unable to control myself, and watched as the two of them turned to look at me.

"Is this the dog that your mother had the misfortune of falling for? I can't really see what the draw would be. But, then again, I am a sane person." That dumb vamp asked. Did he seriously think that I was Mary's_ father_? That was wrong on so many levels...

"That's my friend. But he's a much better person than you or any of the Guard." Mary shot back, the anger evident in her eyebrows. She looked like she was going to strangle him if he wasn't already strangling her.

"Don't make me any angrier than I already am." Alec hissed, tightening his grip once again. He looked almost livid. I couldn't tell if it was because Mary had talked back to him or if it was because she attempted to hit him. Either way, the vampire was losing control. And fast.

"Just-uuggh-do-gah-it." Mary choked out, her voice strangled by the vampire's grip on her neck.

I could literally see the life draining out of her for a few seconds, her lips forming the words 'Goodbye, Sammy' before I stepped forward, my body shaking with rage at this bloodsucker touching my imprint at all, let alone like that. He didn't take too lightly of me trying to get in his way and his grip loosened a bit. Her eyes slowly opened as she regained consciousness. I didn't understand why she had reacted like that since she was a Newborn, but I was scared, nonetheless. She was supposed to be indestructible (or as indestructible as any other vampire here was) and, yet, her body was reacting the way that a normal human's would. What was wrong?

"One more move and I'll snap her neck like she did to my sister." Alec threatened. I growled again, showing him that I wasn't afraid. But I was. With the next step that I took, I could feel all of Mary's fears and they amplified my own.

"Alec, son, why are you holding the Newborn like that? She is a S_pecial_ One." I didn't like the way that Aro said that. Like he _owned_ her. No one could own Mary. Even with my imprint bond, I still didn't really have that much of a claim to her choices or actions. And I would kill anyone who tried to take that freedom away from her.

"But, Father...she killed Jane." Alec defended himself, sounding like the twelve year old that his body portrayed. He might talk a big talk, but he was still just a kid to the Guard. I could see it in the way that Aro stared down at him. All the abilities in the world wouldn't really make up for the age at which Alec was turned.

"By herself?" was Aro's only response. "How very interesting."

"Does it not matter to you that Jane is dead?" Alec accused angrily.

'Take a chill pill, dude' I wanted to tell him. But, of course, I was phased. I doubt he'd appreciate the comment anyways.

"Temper, young one. Sisters are easily replaced." Aro brushed it off. "But I will say that Jane's talents will be missed."

He didn't really just say that, did he? Even though Alec was the bad guy who threatened my imprint, I still couldn't help but feel sort of bad for him. His one actual ally in the Guard and his very own flesh-and-blood was now dead and his father figure was just blowing it off as if her life was meaningless. Jane had been one of the Voltuir's main assets!

"As you wish, Father." Alec's voice was hard and bitter.

"Finish this mutt off and then go help your Brothers. I'll handle this one. You just put her under your spell and keep her there." Aro commanded.

I felt it the moment that Mary became under Alec's power. I felt...empty. It wasn't that our connection wasn't there anymore. It was that Mary wasn't feeling _anything._ I saw her body go limp as Aro handled her, placing her on the ground and standing guard by her. I prayed that she wasn't feeling anything, that this numbness was peaceful, but the fact that she was in the enemy's hands was enough to make me angry for her.

"I'm going to kill you, doggie...and then I'm going to kill that little b-word." Alec hissed, lunging towards me. I ducked out of the way, leaving a zigzag trail behind me as I ran from my foe. I was leading him away from the main action; we were practically by the half-vampire cottage by the time that I realized that Alec was closing in on me.

Scratch that. No sympathy for this vamp.

_Jacob, I think Mary is in trouble._ I thought as quickly as I could, not knowing how much more time I had left if this powerful vampire was successful. Protecting Mary was more important than saving myself.

_On it. Leah, **go help Sammy. **_

_On it, boss. Try not to get yourself killed before I get there. _

And like the magnificent shewolf pounced on my opponent, tearing him apart before he even realized that she had been tailing him for a quarter mile.

_Thanks for that. _

_No problem, kid. I figured you would have been fine on your own *eye roll* but you know Jake. _

_Still, thank you for having my back._

_Shhh. Do you hear that? _

_Hear what? I don't hear anything. _

_Exactly._ Leah's dark wolfy eyes were on mine. _We need to get back to the field. I have a bad feeling about this._

We raced in the opposite direction, heading back towards the battle, and the sight before us was eerily similar to only a few hours ago. The Volturi stood on one side while the Cullens faced them.

_Wow. The Volturi really are down for the count. Look at that. _Leah commented as we joined ranks with the Cullens. Aro stood guard over Mary, her body on the ground at the front of the Guard...or what was left of it.

_Yeah, but did you notice our side?_ Embry asked, despair in his voice.

When Chelsea broke the bonds between Alice and Jasper from the Cullens, she also accidently broke a few bonds between Guard members and the Volturi. A few of them scattered, but we let them go. We weren't about to ask for more trouble than we needed. Marcus was one of the first to jump ship, might I add.

Cauis and Felix had been killed by Emmett, Jane had been taken out by Mary, Aro's wife was taken out by Seth (I think), Demetri got handled by a very vengeful Nahuel once his sister, Ceciely, was killed. Not to mention all of the powerless vampires that the rest of us too out.

Of the thirty-two Guard members, including those that deserted, there were only about twelve still here: Aro, Cauis' wife, Heidi, Chelsea, and Afton were the ones that Jacob recognized still.

It was true that the Volturi were hurting, but we were too.

Alice and Jasper had switched sides, Mary was being held hostage, and we had lost more than our fair share of members.

Ceicily died to protect her sister from Demetri and Huilen was taken out by Renata.

Gemma, the stupid Newborn that was the cause of all of this mess, was ripped apart by four of the Guard members simultaneously-each pulling in a different direction to torture the poor girl. As stupid as she was, no one deserved that kind of death. Rosalie hunted down each and every one of those vampires and made them suffer much, much worse.

Not to mention the wolves...Seth was losing more blood than he could handle right now, just barely holding on to this life. Maitlin was crouched next to him, holding his naked body in her lap as she cried. And poor Greg, my best friend since we were in diapers, he never really wanted to be here in the first place. I just wish that I hadn't convinced him to come with me. That is something that I'll regret for the rest of my life. How am I supposed to look at his parents, or his sister, knowing that Greg would still be alive if it weren't for our friendship?

From twenty-two to fifteen (thirteen that could actually fight since Seth and Maitlin were pretty much useless at this point), our side could have done worse. Unfortunately, three of our strongest players were with the enemy.

"Alice, how could you?" Rosalie cried out, looking about as betrayed by her 'sister' as we felt to see the couple standing across from us, flanking Aro. "How could you side with them? We're your family!"

"I see the Volturi coming out on top." Alice said nonchalantly. "I just couldn't risk my and Jasper's lives on the premise of loyalties."

"Ladies, please. I see no reason why you must argue." Aro said, raising his hands. He looked at his lack-of-forces and cleared his throat. "As it stands, I am in need of additional Guard members. I will not hold a grudge against any Cullen who chooses to switch sides now. Rose, you can even bring your mate. Just know, this is your only offer. As Alice has stated, her vision is clear: the Volturi will win this battle. It would be wise for you to join me in rebuilding something great."

Because the rest of us aren't idiots, we stayed where we were.

"Edward, Bella?" Aro asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Go rot in Hell!" Bella responded and Edward just nodded.

"Temper, temper. I see how it is going to be. And here I was, willing to forgive the injustices done to my own family." Aro said in an almost teasing voice. Everyone knew that he didn't regard the Guard as his family. Even his precious little Jane meant nothing to him.

"You don't deserve to call anyone your family!" Rosalie spat.

Aro seemed unfazed. "How about you, young Renesmee? Care to join your daughter in the Guard?"

"Let her go!" Nessie spat. "What's wrong with her? I thought that Alec being gone would free her from his control?"

"She'll be free soon enough...Alec's power was something _special_." Aro explained with a frown, probably realizing that his other little pet was now gone too.

He shook his head and got back to the matter at hand. "How about you, Carlisle, old friend? You were once a member of my Guard and considered me a brother not even a few hundred years ago. Let us reminisce for a century or two! Alice, Jasper, and Mary will be there. And you can bring that lovely wife of yours, dear friend."

"I'm sorry, old friend, but the only thing that I want is for you to release Mary." Carlisle replied, he stared at two of his former children with such heaviness. "Jasper, Alice, I understand that you have chosen to leave and I will not force you to return to us. Just know that we will always love you." He turned back to Aro. "But Mary has nothing to do with building your army. She is not choosing this for herself so we must fight to get her back where she belongs."

"Ah, I'm sorry too, dear friend." Aro smiled. "But this Special One is coming with me. Rest assured, she will be treated like royalty. I can guarantee her life will be protected and no harm will come to her while she is a member of the Guard."

"And if we would still rather have her with us so that we could protect her?" Carlisle asked, trying to be a diplomat.

"If you will not permit me to take this Special One with me, I will have to end you all." Aro stated matter-of-factly.

"It is best to do as he says." Alice piped up, earning herself a praising grin from Aro. It made me sick to see her looking like his new favorite pet.

"Thank you, Alice-dear." Aro complimented, turning back towards us with a much happier tone in his voice. "So, the choice is yours, dear Cullens...the Special One's safety...or all of your lives? Those are two things that I can guarantee."

_Is __he _crazy?_ He must be. There's no way that I'm just going to be okay with that sicko taking my daughter!_

_At least she'd have a few familiar faces there with her... _Embry tried to be positive. It was difficult when there was so much death around us. The smoke from the fire that had killed Guard members as well as three of our own was overpowering.

_Don't you dare talk about those traitors like that! _

_Jake, chill out. You know that we'll never let anything happen to Mary. _Leah spoke up.

_Like we didn't let anything happen to Greg?_ Peter asked bitterly.

_We're gonna get you back, Mary._ I silently swore.

I didn't care if we all died. As long as my imprint was safe, I could die happy. But she'd hate herself if she knew that she was the cause of all of all of our deaths...maybe, just maybe, it might be better for Mary if she was protected. Then we could get her back once we were regrouped...I don't know...I wish she would just wake up so that we could get her opinion on it. As her imprint, I would do whatever she said. And I know that her parents would agree to it, as well. I mean, look at how we all got here: Mary was being stubborn in order to help keep her family safe so she tried to run off by herself to help her aunt.

Wait, what was that? Did Alice just...wink? What the hell did that mean?

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, guys. It's up to you once again. Just remember: there's no going back either way so let me know what you think should happen. <strong>

**1. Mary (along with Alice and Jasper) will go with what's left of the Volturi and be guaranteed safety for the whole Cullen clan...but be away from Sammy and her family for who knows how long.**

**2. The Cullens have a stand-off with the Volturi once and for all...but not be guaranteed that they'll all survive the battle and if Aro survives, he will swear to hunt down Mary and her family until they are all destroyed. **


	32. Ask Alice

_Previously: _

_"The choice is yours, dear Cullens: the Special One's safety...or all of your lives? Those are two things that I can guarantee."_

* * *

><p>You know the feeling you get when a crazy twelve year old vampire who has lived for hundreds of years tries to kill you and you wake up not knowing if he succeeded and you were in a bizarre afterlife for the mythologically enhanced or if you had been taken captive by said crazy vampire and were set to live out the rest of your eternal life as his prisoner? Oh, right. That's just me.<p>

"Wha-what happened?" I asked, looking around this strange room with panic in my eyes. The last thing I remembered was Aro talking about wanting me because I was special and telling Alec to go after Sammy. "Oh, god. Sammy."

The door creaked open a bit and a blur of red satin ran into the room and took up space on the end of the bed I was occupying.

"Shh, shh, everything is fine." Alice! Thank god; a face that I recognized. Not that I had seen anyone else since I woke up. Still, her pixie grin was a welcome sight. I thought that I had _died_! Unless I was dead and just imagining her here with me. Would that mean that she was dead, too...?

"I know what you're about to ask and no, you're not dead." My aunt responded before I could ask if this was our own version of vampire heaven.

"Alice, what happened?" I questioned my psychic aunt now that I was more sure that I might actually get an answer. I admit, asking the empty room might not have been a good move on my part.

"The battle lasted only minutes after you were knocked out by Alec." Alice explained. "Leah took out Alec, and the rest went just as easily. There were only twelve of them still standing once Alec was out of the way and none, minus Aro and Afton, had any real talents. Once we took out Aro, it was easy to either kill off the rest or to scare them into not messing with us again."

"You mean we won?" I asked, sitting up in the bed that was made for a much smaller person. "We actually won?"

"Don't act so surprised, little missy. You had your Aunt Alice rooting for you, did you not?" Alice teased. "But, I tell you. It sure is good to see you awake again."

"How long was I out?" I asked, rubbing my head where there appeared to be a knot there. "I don't understand, I was phased. I shouldn't have any bruises...but my body feels like I was run over by a cement truck."

"That's what they asked me to talk to you about..." Alice looked sadder than when Bella ruined her new Louis Vuitton handbag by taking it out in a thunderstorm and leaving it out all night.

"Alice, what's wrong? Wh-who told you to talk to me?" I asked, feeling the panic rise up in me again. Where was the rest of my family? Why weren't they here talking to me? Surely, my mother would be by my side if she could. And my father would want to be here, as well. And I know for a fact that Sammy would be trying to cheer me up. So...where was my family? If they weren't here...then who was?

"Your mother, of course." Alice said, her chipper tone back.

"Where is everyone, then?" For some reason, I just couldn't trust my favorite aunt just yet. My head was playing tricks on me.

"...I can't tell you." Alice replied.

"Alice Cullen, you tell me where my family is right now or I'm going to...never let you use me as your Barbie doll again." I threatened, watching her eyes widen.

"Oh, please don't make me tell you, Mary!" Alice seemed more like a child than I was. "I promised I'd let it be a surprise."

"But they're all okay?" I asked, needing to make sure.

"Yes." Alice answered quickly, relief filling my chest. My family was safe.

"Then tell me everything!" I demanded. "About the battle. About how long I've been out. About how I feel like I'm dying even though vampires aren't supposed to be able to get hurt. I want to know everything that I've missed. Please, Auntie Alice?"

"Alright. I am supposed to keep you busy for a few more minutes anyways..." Alice mused out loud. "Where to begin?"

"You and Uncle Jasper were the bad guys and Aro had singled me out?" I prompted. "I still don't understand how you could do something like that..."

"Jasper and I did what we had to do in order to ensure that you would be protected." Alice explained rationally. When I gave her a look, she continued. "I had two visions on the morning of the attack. In the first one, I saw the Volturi winning the battle and taking you captive. I knew that you would need someone on your side to help keep you safe from Aro, so Jazz and I posed as new recruits for the Guard in case it ended like that. The second vision, the one that proved true, was of us fighting it out until all of the Guard were taken down. That also required Jasper and I being inside members."

"How so?" I asked. I had been blacked out for nearly all of the battle. When I passed out because of Alec's power, our side was not winning in the slightest, though I had managed to kill Jane.

"Jasper was the one who snapped Aro's neck while I had him distracted. He was too busy complimenting his new little pet to notice that Jazz was right behind him." Alice replied simply. "Divide to conquer, if you will."

"So where are we now? I don't recognize this room." I asked, looking around the purple decorated child's room.

"This was your room." Alice said, looking confused.

"I'm sorry. I don't remember ever being here, Alice." I said, trying to rack my brain for memories of this purple room. Not a single memory.

"That's odd." Alice said, a frown on her perfectly young forehead. "You lived here when you were a toddler...when your family lived with the rest of the Cullens for a bit. Do you honestly not remember it?"

"Alice, I don't know what's wrong. I don't remember any of this. Actually, I can hardly remember anything." I said, reaching in my brain for anything that had happened but there seemed to be a blockage. I could remember my first phasing but pretty much anything before that was a big blur. "Alice, what's wrong with me? Why can't I remember?"

"Oh, dear." Alice muttered. "This is not good."

She stood up so I followed suit.

"Where are you going?" I asked, in a bit of a panic as my heart began to race uncontrollably at the thought of being by myself. I didn't feel comfortable being left alone. Too much had happened for me to want to be separated from my family ever again, even though I was technically with them the whole time. However long I was out, I was disconnected from my family and I needed to make that time up.

"You're coming too, don't worry." Alice said, noticing my mood. "I want Carlisle and Edward to look you over again now that you're conscious. You shouldn't be having side effects like this since you were phased when you went under."

"And then to go see my family?" I asked.

Alice smiled, her eyes twinkling. "Oh, you're going to see your family very soon."

We walked down the stairs of the Cullen Mansion and, though it looked nearly identical to all of the other Cullen houses that I had visited/lived at throughtout my lifetime, I knew that we were in Forks. I was taking in my surroundings when out of nowhere, I detected a threat. I phased instinctively, straightening my back as I tried to grasp what was happening.

"Surprise!" A chorus of voices shouted at me, blinding me with a few camera lights, and the smell of freshly baked chocolate cake.

"Wha-?" I asked, not sure what was happening. I phased back, realizing that there was no real threat, and blushed as I looked over the faces of all of my loved ones.

"Happy birthday, Mary!" Alice whispered in my ear, pulling me in for a hug. "Don't tell me that you forgot that, too?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I couldn't have the Volturi kill the rest of them...I'm not that mean :P But now that the threat is gone and Mary is back home with her family, her life is only just beginning.<strong>


	33. It's My Party

_Previously: _

_"Happy birthday, Mary!" Alice whispered in my ear, pulling me in for a hug. "Don't tell me that you forgot that, too?"_

* * *

><p>"Mary, happy birthday." Momma said, pulling me into a hug as soon as the "surprise!"s were through. From the look on her face, she had been waiting for me to wake up for quite some time. Three days, to be exact.<p>

"Momma..." I began, but I didn't even know what I was about to ask. I felt different than a few days ago. I just couldn't put my finger on how.

"Yes, sweetie?" Nessie asked, ready to do anything that I asked. Usually she wanted me to feel a bit more independent, but I guess almost dying and then coming back on your birthday will change your mother's views on stuff like that.

"I just...I'm really glad to see you." I said lamely, though it was nonetheless true.

"We're all very glad to see you, too." Renesmee said, tears forming in her big brown eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey." Jacob came up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder in comfort. "No tears today. This is supposed to be a party! Our little girl is fourteen now but she will always be our little girl."

"I don't feel much like partying." I admitted quietly, hoping that Alice wouldn't hear my confession. I loved my Aunt Alice and usually I loved her parties, but today it felt wrong. I just wanted to be around my family and relish in the fact that I had not, in fact, died. This was too much noise and my vampire senses were just bursting to break through again. Usually I had it under better control, but I was on high alert still.

"You don't have to stay for the entire time, but everyone came to check on you and celebrate your birthday. Please, Mary. Let the Pack see that you're okay and..." Dad began. I could see in the look from his eyes that whatever he was about to say was difficult for him. Which usually meant it was Pack business.

"Let them see that I'm okay and what?" I whispered, not sure if I should be afraid or not. That look scared me, though, if I'm being honest.

"That you're not going to be a threat because of whatever Alec did to you." The Alpha admitted just as quietly and the blood drained from my face.

"I...I wouldn't hurt anyone, Daddy." I said, since I wasn't sure that I could honestly say that I wasn't a threat. I didn't know what was going on with my body, but I knew for a fact that no matter what happened, I would never let anything happen to the people that I loved.

"I know that, honey. But phasing because we yelled 'surprise' to you only helped to fuel the Council's concerns." Jacob admitted regretfully. "Just, stay calm tonight, okay? And I'll make sure that it ends soon." He kissed me on the forehead and walked over to where Esme and Alice were standing. My aunt had a pout on her lips in regards to whatever he was saying, but I knew that my Daddy would take care of me.

I looked around the room filled with pretty much every Quielite member and Cullen vampire that I knew. Even Nahuel and Maitlin traveled to Forks with us from London, apparently. They weren't the enemy; they were family. They were just as scared about what happened to me as I was. I could do this.

"You don't have to do this, Mary." Mom spoke up as I turned to head towards the awaiting crowd. "You don't have to feel like you're on trial because of their prejudices and fears. I know that no matter what's happening, you would never hurt anyone."

I could hear her own anger from long ago creeping up. Sometimes I forgot that my mother wasn't completely accepted by the tribe either when she was thought of as a threat herself. No matter how much Daddy loved us, we were still just accepted by the Council because we were the Alpha's imprint and daughter.

"I know that, too." I said, looking her dead in the eyes. "Which is exactly why I have to do this. They're never going to be happy until they know for sure that I'm stable. So stable I must be."

"If you're sure..." Nessie had on her brave face. Just like I had on mine. Like mother, like daughter.

"Daddy's right. No tears. This is supposed to be a party, remember?" I tried to tease her to lighten the mood, but I could tell that the point was mute. "I've got to go find Sammy. I bet he's dying to talk to the birthday girl."

"Check the dessert table, then." Mom smiled weakly at me. "I saw a bunch of the boys headed that direction."

As expected, I found Sammy with his little brother Tanner, my cousin Peter, and JJ Dunlap. I didn't see Gregory among the Pack boys, though. That was unusual. Oh, god. No. Not Greg. No, no, no, no, no. Oh, please don't be true. He's just in the bathroom. That's it. Yes. He's not dead. The Volturi didn't claim his life.

"Greg?" I whispered to Sammy, who made eye contact with me the second that I was within five feet of him.

The look on my imprint's face confirmed my fear as he shook his head. I swallowed deeply and looked around the room to see who else died while I was under Alec's spell. The only person on our side that I knew was dead was Ceciely who died to protect her sister Maitlin when Seth was injured. SETH! Oh, please don't have my favorite pretend-uncle be dead too. He had lost so much blood the last time that I saw him.

I finally found the Pack member standing next to his imprint Maitlin. He looked like he had been beated up, maybe, but the wounds were healing at a normal werewolf speed. Thank god. I don't think that the Pack could handle another loss.

I didn't see Huilen or Gemma either and didn't bother asking Sammy what happened to them...from the look on Rose and Nahuel's faces, I knew. It was the same look that Gretchen and her parents had.

Aunt Rosalie looked like she was dead (no pun intended) and if she had been human, I know that she would still be crying three days later. I wanted to go give her a hug but I figured that this would be the wrong moment. I was supposed to be at my party having fun. I would talk to my aunt later tonight after all of the Quilites left. I just wished that this stupid party would be over already. My cousin Gemma was dead, my pretty-much best guy friend Greg was dead, and Nahuel had lost one of his sisters and his aunt who had raised him since birth. This was too much for me to want to deal with and pretend to be happy about my surprise party. I just wanted to go back to twenty minutes ago when I was oblivious to all of the pain that our family was going to have to deal with.

"Hey, it's okay." Sammy said, sensing my mood. He put his hand on my shoulder in comfort just like my father had done earlier to my mother. "We'll get through this. Everyone knew the risks going into the battle."

And, suddenly, I was crying in my imprint's chest. Blubbering like a baby in front of everyone that I loved and a few that were afraid of me.

"It's all my fault." I whimpered. Sammy's arms went around me and I felt a little bit better.

"Shhh, Mary, it's not your fault." Sammy rubbed my back, looking at someone above my head but I didn't bother to look up to see who it was that he was signalling to. "Hey, why don't we get out of here for a bit, huh? I'll have you back before Alice cuts the cake."

I nodded, trying to wipe my eyes and hoping that not a lot of people saw my little meltdown. Sammy grabbed my hand and lead me out the back door of the Cullen Mansion. My heart was pounding: from the feeling of my imprint's hand in mine or my overwhelming guilt, I wasn't sure.

Once we were far enough away from the house, Sammy dropped my hand and turned to look at me. We stood in silence for a minute or two, each of us thinking about my meltdown, I'm sure.

"It's not your fault, you know." Sammy spoke up after awhile.

"Sure it's not." I scoffed. "I was the one who went all martyr and forced the wolves to go to London in the first place. If it hadn't been for me, Greg would still be alive and Seth wouldn't have gotten so badly injured. And if I hadn't made the wolves fight, Seth would have never imprinted and Ceciely wouldn't have died to save her sister and I suspect that Huilen wouldn't have died either."

"Jacob made it _very_ clear that no one had to go to with him." Sammy responded. "You are not responsible for their lives any more than I am. The Volturi did this. Not you."

I pressed my lips together. Even though his words were making sense, it still felt like I was somewhat responsible.

"What about Gemma?" Sammy asked a minute later. "You had no part in her death at all. Do you feel like her death is your fault, too?"

"I-I don't know." I said, the pit in my stomach still there. "I know it sounds stupid when you say it like that...I just...I was out of the battle and unable to help. I feel like if I hadn't been under Alec's spell, I could have made a difference."

"Mary, Mary, Mary..." Sammy smiled in disbelief. "Do you even know what you did for our side?"

"I only killed one vampire." I mumbled. "Hardly helpful."

"_One_ vampire? One vampire!" Sammy shook his head. "You took out _Jane._ Mary, she was the most dangerous Guard member. You took out our biggest threat without even blinking. You, young lady, were the very opposite of 'hardly helpful.'"

"You really think so?" I asked, feeling better just hearing my imprint praise me so highly.

"I really do." Sammy smiled down at me. "Mary, you amaze me."


	34. Deeper Issues

"So how did the rest of the party go?" Robin asked as she laced up her running shoes for track practice the following Monday. "Sorry I had to leave early, but if I didn't finish my application for Washington University, I would have missed the early admission deadline."

"No worries. I know that getting out of this town is important to you." I said, smiling to show her that my feelings weren't hurt in the slightest that she ditched out early.

"It's not that, exactly." Robin said, looking down at her shoes as if all of the answers lay there. "I mean, I want to leave La Push. And getting to go to school is the perfect excuse to do it. Even if I don't get accepted to WU, I'm still leaving in the Fall. But just to see if I can stand alone without my family and the Pack and all of the drama that surrounds it...I just, I want to find out if who I am is because of where I am or because that's who I am. I'm not abandoning my roots like some people might think. I just want to get to know every part of myself. I understand who I am when it comes to this tribe; now I need to understand who I am where the rest of the world is concerned. Do you understand that at all? I know it probably sounds crazy."

"Of course I do. That's why I fought so hard to come live in La Push." I stated. "I knew one side of my family. I needed to accept the other half of my genealogy in order to know who I really am. You've had your entire life to get used to being in a tight-knit tribe of shunning outsiders to protect the Pack and rarely getting to meet new people. Now it's time for you to embrace your humanity without the other half of your identity looming over you. This is a good thing, no matter how you have to be on your own for a little while."

There was a moment of silence as we both thought about just how much would have been different if we had been born somewhere else or with different parents or without the mythological history of our everyday lives consuming us. For Robin, she was trying to escape it and be normal. For me, I had finally accepted that I was never going to be normal and I was happy with that. I wouldn't trade my life for anyone's. I have wonderful friends, the most loving parents, kind extended family members, and an imprint that always has my back. Screw wanting to be normal anymore. I wanted to be me.

"I could never be happy here." Robin stated glumly, exhaling slowly. I stared at her in disbelief.

"Where is all of this coming from?" I asked. I wasn't used to seeing this side of my cousin; Robin always had an upbeat spirit.

"Years and years of secrets and lies." Robin said vaguely. "I just want to strike out on my own...and hopefully come back with a changed mindset about my hometown."

"You never know what you've got until it's gone or, in my case, not part of your life to begin with. I'm sure that you'll leave and realize just how much of La Push goes with you. Maybe you'll even learn to love it more once you're gone." I claimed from my own experience. "You want to be your own person without everyone telling you that that's who you are...I get that more than you'll ever know."

"I'm glad that someone does." Robin seemed bitter and I couldn't understand why.

"Your parents will come around." I said, taking a guess at who was behind her guilt. "I know that they're not thrilled about you going away to school, but you'll be back for Christmas break and the summer. It'll feel like you never left."

"It's not them that I'm worried about." Robin said with a frown. "I'm afraid that Aunt Rebecca hasn't been back to town, not because she doesn't want to, but because the Council won't let her. If I don't go to school, if I just leave...what's to say that I'll be allowed to come back?"

"I don't understand. You think that the tribe is keeping her away?" I gasped. I knew that Rebecca was supposed to come for a visit soon but it got cancelled by the time I woke up. No one would tell me why and I assumed that it had to do with the Volturi attack. Now I wasn't so sure.

"I think so." Robin nodded. "I overheard my parents talking about it last night when they thought that all of us were asleep. Mom was crying..."

"And?" I prompted. If the tribe was keeping my aunt from returning home, maybe Robin really had a reason to worry.

"Apparently, Aunt Rebecca published a book a few years ago that caused some controversy." Robin explained vaguely. "She goes by the pen name Reba Cec and _Bedtime Stories That Came True_ is on the Best Sellers Chart, which would be impressive if the Council hadn't found out about the book."

"I don't get it. She wrote a fiction novel. Why does that deserve a shunning?" I asked.

"Because it pretty much outed our entire existence. What doesn't sell more than mythological fiction nowadays?" Robin said slowly. "A book about vampires and werewolves and the tribe...she even mentioned your mother's birth. The only reason that she came back for your parents' wedding was to see if the rumors were true about Nessie's genealogy. I can't believe it myself, but Dad was pretty adamant when they were talking last night. He's very angry with Mom's twin, but of course Mom doesn't see it the same way. She claimed that Beks was going through a rough patch in her life, what with just finding out that her scumbag of a husband had fathered a child with another woman while they were still together, and that writing about what she knew was all Beks had ever wanted. I don't know. Neither of them would give me a straightforward answer this morning when I asked about it, though. They stuck to the story that Aunt Rebecca decided that a trip just wasn't right at the moment. Just another La Push cover-up."

"That doesn't mean that you won't be allowed to come back and everything be the same." I tried to cheer her up with a joke. "Just don't publish anything about us and you'll be fine." Though, I couldn't honestly understand why Aunt Becca would out our entire tribe for a little bit of money. Then again, I had never met the woman.

"As long as I never talk about where I come from, you mean." Robin rolled her eyes. "I have to deny who I am when I leave this place or else risk exile when I try to return. Do you know how much pressure that could be? Having to lie about your family to strangers?"

"Better than you know." I said with a sigh. In my fourteen years, I had never had a human friend that I didn't lie to about my werewolf/vampire family. At least now I was in La Push where nearly all of the residents knew about the tribal legends.

We were quiet again, each of us finishing getting our track uniforms on and mulling over the bombshell that Robin had been sitting on since last night. I shoved my school clothes in my gym bag and pulled my long curly ringlets into a lazy bun. Just as I was about to open the main door and head out to the track with the boys, Robin grabbed my arm and stopped me. She looped her arm through mine and we walked out of the locker room together.

"So?" Robin prompted, raising an eyebrow, her light mood from earlier back.

"So, what?" I asked, distracted by the tying of my own shoe and my thoughts for a second. When I was all laced up, I turned back to face her.

"You know what..." Robin teased. "How did the rest of the party go? You didn't think that I forgot about that, did you?"

"It was alright." I said with a shrug, but I felt my cheeks heating up. I had hoped that she would let that subject drop.

"Uh-huh. I believe that for all of two seconds." Robin grinned. "Seriously, what happened?"

"Nothing happened. Cake, presents, the usual." I said nonchalantly. "It was just like any other birthday party you've been to...except it was outlandish because of the Cullens being involved." An eye roll.

"You were unconscious for three days and then you wake up to the _entire_ population of La Push in your house." Robin's dark eyes were zeroed in on mine. "Don't try to deny it, I saw how scared you were when we yelled surprise. And then you take a walk with Sammy and come back and avoid him? That was weird even for you two. So, spill."

"I think I'm reading too much into what happened..." I said at last, knowing that my cousin wouldn't let it drop anytime soon and that we were getting closer to the field every second.

"Oh? What happened?" Robin asked.

"It was nothing." I said with a blush. "I'll tell you later." I said, motioning to the group of guys now in front of us. JJ, Peter, and Sammy were standing near the starting blocks while Coach Call was lecturing Gretchen and Diana about not interfering in our match like they tried to two weeks ago by playing their music at inconvenient times during our matches on purpose to throw off our concentration.

Practice went well for the first half. After our ten minute water break, that's when everything went wrong. I was just about to pass Sammy and JJ in the final lap when I felt my legs buckle as my head started spinning and I passed out instead.

As I drifted off into unconsciousness, I couldn't help but hear bits of conversations around me.

"Robin, go call Dr. Cullen. NOW!" -Embry

"I'll call Nessie." -Gretchen

"Thank you. Peter, can you phase? I'm sure Jacob will need to be here as well." -Embry

"JJ is already on it, Coach." -Peter

"Don't let her fall asleep. Someone keep her talking." -Embry

"How are you feeling? Mary, stay with me." -Sammy

"Can you count how many fingers I'm holding up?...Sh-. Keep your eyes open, Mary. Guys, step back and give her some air!" -Embry

"Mary, please be okay." -Sammy


	35. Mary's Problem

**You'll finally get to know what is wrong with Mary. GASP!**

**Thanks, as always, for the reviews and keep them coming. You guys motivate me to keep writing and everyone in this story thanks you.**

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><p>One minute I was racing for the finish line and the next I was out like a light. This was the second time that I had woken up to find myself in my purple childhood bedroom at the Cullens' and not known how I had gotten there or how long I had been unconscious.<p>

This time, though, I was alone in the room that I should have remembered a mere two days ago...or, at least, I think it had only been two days. Honestly, I had no idea how much time had passed since my fainting spell on Monday during track practice.

I could hear various family members throughout the house so I was comforted in my solitude for the time being. At least I wasn't all alone like I had assumed moments before when I woke up in this strange room again. My parents, from what I could tell, were at the top of the stairs just outside my door.

"Jake, I'm worried about her." My mother's voice from the other side of the thick wooden door. "What if Carlisle is wrong? What if that's not what's wrong with our little girl?"

"I trust Carlisle with my life." My father responded automatically, always ready to support this family like no other werewolf would with vampires. "We should trust him with Mary's, as well."

"I'm not saying that I don't trust my grandfather, Jake. You know that's not what I meant." Nessie sounded tense.

"Shh, baby, you know that that's not what I meant either. I know that you're just scared about what he said is wrong with Mary." Jacob, always the diplomat, especially where his imprint was concerned.

"I just don't see how we could have been so blind. Our little girl...oh, Jake, what are we going to do?" My mother sounded like she had a lump in her throat.

"We're going to love her exactly like we did before. Nothing has really changed." Jacob said and I smiled slightly. Whatever it was that they knew that I didn't, at least my father was still willing to treat my sickness as if it were nothing.

"Who are we kidding, Jake? Everything has changed." She sounded like she was about to cry. Oh, god. What was wrong with me that was upsetting my mom so much? I think I wanted to stay in the dark as long as possible.

"Mary is alive and that is all that we should be concerned with right now." My father said, always the one grounded to reality.

"But her future..." My mother quietly muttered.

"At least she'll still have one. We have to look on the bright side of things, Ness, or we'll never be able to get through this." For the first time in this conversation, my father sounded pessimistic.

More footsteps, though they were so faint that if I hadn't had grown accustomed to hearing them throughout my lifetime I wouldn't have heard them at all. I assumed it was the rest of my family. And I was proven correct when I heard their voices.

"I think she's up, guys. Let's not debate this any longer. Carlisle's explanation is the best one that we have right now." Grandpa Edward said, his voice a mix of happiness and chagrin.

"Edward is right." Esme sounded sad, as well. "Until it is proven one way or another, let's try to stay positive."

"I really wish that I could just see what the final outcome of the test is so we wouldn't have to worry about it any longer." Alice sounded like she was pouting. Which, knowing my aunt, she probably was. She loved me like the little sister she never had (other than my mother, of course), but I knew it was difficult on her whenever she didn't know what was going on in my future. Her visions were circumstantial with normal humans and full vampires, but since I was partial of both like my mother (with a little bit of my father's werewolf DNA mixed in) poor Alice had massive headaches whenever she attempted to search my future.

"It's not your fault, Alice." Uncle Jasper tried to console his wife. "We'll find out soon enough."

"I know." Alice sighed. "I just wish that I could help get rid of some of this fear."

"Momma?" I called out, hoping that my family would just come talk to me instead of keeping me out of the loop in the hallway any longer. It wasn't that they didn't already know that I was up. "Daddy?"

All at once, they were in 'my' bedroom: my parents sat on the edge of the bed, my aunts and uncles stood near the tiny wooden dresser and closet on the other side of the room, and Grandma Esme stood near the door waiting for her own mate. My family, forever in their pairs, stared down at me with worry in their eyes.

"So, how long was I out this time?" I joked, but it wasn't received as well as I thought it would.

"Three days." Nessie whispered, really looking like she was about to cry.

"Again?" I asked. "But, I wasn't under Alec's spell..." I couldn't wrap my head around this. The only reason that (or so we thought) I had been knocked out so long after the fight with the Volturi was because of Alec's sensory compulsion.

"It wasn't Alec that kept you unconscious." Emmett said in his 'spooky' voice that never worked on me even when I was a little kid. Somehow, it seemed to give me chills today, though.

"I don't understand." I said, rubbing my arm to get rid of the goosebumps and looking at my parents for all of the answers.

"When Leah and Sammy killed Alec, anyone that had been under his mind control was released from it...except you." Jacob said slowly. "Mary, it's your body that has been knocking you out."

"My body?" A lump formed in my throat.

"We can't be sure until Carlisle confirms it, but we think that your body is forcing you unconscious because you're Changing, Mary." Jacob explained further.

"I've been changing every day of my life. I don't understand why it's so dramatic now." I reasoned. "I'm not like mom."

I knew that my mother wouldn't get offended, and when I looked at her face, I was correct. There was no bitterness or resentment at my comment, only what appeared to be pity.

"You're right." Nessie said, trying to force a smile on her face for me. The longer her speech got, the less real it seemed. "I grew quickly, much too quickly, throughout my childhood. I stopped growing when I was seven and near sexual maturity. You've grown sparatically like any normal human would. Even when you started phasing when you were seven, you still continued to age at a human pace minus the short outbursts whenever you would stay phased for more than a day or two."

"Ah-hmmm." Carlisle cleared his throat since no one had even noticed that he entered the room.

"What's the verdict, Doc? Have her blood results come in?" Jacob asked, standing up to look my great-grandfather in the eye.

"Would you mind if I spoke with Mary alone?" Carlisle asked. "Edward can relay the results of the test to you all downstairs. But I think it is imperative that I confirm my conclusion with Mary by herself."

My family begrudgingly cleared out the room, my parents each giving me a hug before leaving. I could tell by the look in Grandpa Edward's eyes and from the way that Aunt Alice avoided my eye contact that the test results were just as they expected.

"What's the farthest thing back that you can remember, sweetie?" Carlisle asked and I raised an eyebrow. "The first clear memory that you remember having."

"Um...I was playing with Daddy in the yard of the Cullen home in Portland." I smiled at the memory. "It had just rained and we were playing my favorite game, something about being a cowgirl or something like that. He was in wolf form and I was riding on his back when I looked down at a puddle and saw my eyes. I screamed and jumped off of him. It took me a minute...okay, it was longer than that...to realize what had happened. That was the first time that I had phased. Any memory before that is kind of hazy."

"And how old were you?" Carlisle asked, checking over his notes in his hand.

"Seven." I said, rolling my eyes. "You should know, you were there, too. We were all still living together at that point. I'm pretty sure that you and Daddy were the ones who figured out what had happened."

"That's what I thought." Carlisle gave me a weak smile. "I was just making sure that that was as far back as you could clearly remember."

"Granddad, what's wrong with me? I can handle it. I just need to know." I asked. Better to know and be devastated than to stay in the dark any longer and come up with any more ridiculous scenarios of what could be the problem.

"Mary, we ran dozens of tests while you were passed out. Many of them were blood tests." Carlisle spoke slowly in his voice that I had only heard him use on his patients at the hospital. It was both soothing and scary. "On the first day, your blood test turned up like it normally does, with a mere trace or two of venom. The second day, I grew concerned. Though you were not phased, vampire venom was slowly depositing into your system. Today when I got the results back, your blood count was nearly one percent venom."

"That doesn't seem like a lot." I stated, though at the same time I was terrified.

"Mary, you're Changing much slower than your mother did, but you're changing into more of a vampire nonetheless." Carlisle admitted. "I'm so sorry, sweetie."

"That's why it has been three day periods." I suspected. "Because when a human undergoes a Transformation, they whither in pain for three whole days just like Grandma Bella did."

"Were you in any pain?" Carlisle asked, pulling out his notepad again. "Even the smallest bit of pain needs to be recorded, Mary. It's very important that you don't lie to me like Bella tried to do to spare my feelings."

"None. I didn't feel anything. I just felt like I was asleep but without having a dream." I said and at least my granddad looked relieved about that. "I just don't understand why it is happening now. Why not when I was seven like mom did?"

"I don't think that it was the year that was so special towards your mother's permanent change." Carlisle hypothesized. "Renesmee was fully mature when she stopped aging. You are just beginning to mature into an adult. Because of how special and unique you are, we have no idea when you will be done with this process or even how you will be when it is over."

"You don't think that I'll be fully vampire, do you?" I asked.

"Sweetie, we have no idea what you will end up as." Carlisle said in his soothing doctor voice, though this time it seemed to be less comforting. I felt like I had a death sentence looming over my head.

"But I will end up as something, right?" I knew my voice was full of panic, but I couldn't contain my fear any longer. I could see why my mother was so upset. What if I didn't have a future? What if this Transformation killed me?

"We don't know that either." Carlisle continued slowly. "You are one of a kind. Alice would have come across someone like you when she was searching for a half-vampire hybrid when your mother was born. You are the only Shapeshifter/half-vampire child in existence."

"What about my children? How will this effect them? They'll be even more one of a kind than I was." I knew what he was going to say before he even said it.

"Mary, we don't think that you'll be able to have children once too much venom gets in your system. We don't know for sure, since you are the first of your kind, but from what your mother went through, we can guess." Carlisle hypothesized again. "Your mother had fifty percent human blood and fifty percent vampire venom in her when she got pregnant with you. Once she stopped aging, she had more venom than blood which was why you were born premature."

And, suddenly, a dream that I didn't even know I had was being taken away from me. It wasn't that I had never thought about it before, but children just didn't seem like a big deal to me until now. If imprinting was all about creating a stronger bloodline of wolves, then what the hell did I imprint on Sammy for? I couldn't give him what he would eventually want and that killed me. I felt the tears on my cheeks before I even realized that I had started crying. Granddad handed me a tissue from the nightstand and I blew into it.

"Let me guess, you have no idea when that will be: when I'll have too much venom in my system to conceive." I guessed.

"It just depends on how often your body tries to knock you out." Carlisle concluded reasonably. "It seems you only have venom in your system when you are phased or when you are unconscious because of this Change. After the Volturi fight when you were out for three days, it appeared as if you were the same. Looking back on my notes from those three days, however, I realized that you had accumulated half of a percent of vampire venom in your system. We are all hoping that you are Changing at half a percent and that your body isn't doubling the amount of venom in your system each time you are knocked out. It would be better for you if you slowly edged into this and weren't shocked with it like your mother was."

"And if I change with the half a percent each time it happens and if the pattern stays to once a week like it seems to be happening?" I asked, trying to do the math in my head.

"You'll have four years until you're fully a vampire." Or dead, I could tell that he wanted to add.

"And if it doubles each time and continues once a week?" I asked, knowing that my odds were even worse.

"Two and a half months." He said and I felt dizzy. The whole room was spinning. I possibly only had two and a half months to live? Or, at the very least, live the way that I have been living. No one would treat me the same at school if they knew that I was a full vampire. If I even ended up like that. I could stop at any point and be done, like my mother did. No matter what happened, I was never going to be the same again.

"Is there anything that we can do to slow it down?" I asked, feeling my chest clench up in panic.

"The only thing that we know for sure to do is to monitor you." Carlisle admitted glumly. "You're just too unknown for us to try anything risky. We don't know if having you phase will slow down the process or speed it up. The best we can do is just wait and keep you safe and calm in the meantime."

The Volturi were right. I had no business being born. I was too much of a threat to everyone around me. Who knew what would happen if I phased now? Would it kick-start my Transformation even more? Would it kill me? Would I kill someone that I loved? It was too much to think about. I only prayed that I had longer than two and a half months to figure this all out.


	36. Talking It Out

**AN: I know this story seems like it's about to get depressing, but stick with me on this. I have an end goal lol. As always, leave reviews to let me know what you think ;) **

_Previously:_

_Your blood count was nearly one percent venom. Because of how special and unique you are, we have no idea when you will be done with this process or even what you will be when it is over. We are all hoping that you are Changing at half a percent and that your body isn't doubling the amount of venom in your system each time you are knocked out...but we don't think that you'll be able to have children once too much venom gets in your system._

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><p>"I...I think I need some air, granddad." I said, having had too much of this discussion. At best, I would be a full vampire in four years. At worst, I would be dead within two and a half months. But both of those were pure guesses. The only thing that we needed was more time to figure this all out since I was one of a kind. Unfortunately, we weren't sure how much more time I had.<p>

"Alright, sweetie." Carlisle said. "I knew this would be a lot to take in. Which is why I suggested that I speak with you alone about this. I know the family means well, but they can be a little overbearing, am I right?"

I smiled weakly at my great-grandfather. "Thank you for that. I don't think I can see them right now..." Which blew my getaway plan. I doubted that I'd be able to sneak past them if they were all waiting for me downstairs. "Hey, didn't this used to be my mom's room for a little while?" I asked, a new idea forming.

"It was hers before it was yours, yes." Carlisle said, looking confused.

"Good." I said, remembering a story told over Christmas eggnog last year about a daredevil hybrid who would sneak out of the Cullen house to go see her werewolf best friend, ei my father. There was a rickety white fence that went all the way up the back of the house on the side near this room.

"What are you up to?" My granddad asked, seeing the glint in my eyes.

"If you turn around right now, you won't have anything to conceal in your thoughts when you see Edward." I warned, knowing that it was stupid and foolish to sneak out the window, but knowing that I would never escape for even a moment if I had to go downstairs.

"I know nothing." Carlisle winked at me and headed towards the bedroom door.

"Thank you, granddad. I love you." I said, bending down to make sure my shoes were tied properly. "I'll be back for dinner."

"I heard nothing." Carlisle chuckled as he closed the door.

I pulled open the window as quickly as I could and shimmied down the fence. That one percent of extra vampire-ness sure did help me when climbing down that shaky thing. I'm surprised that it didn't get fixed or replaced along with everything else in this house when Alice and Esme remodel every year.

Once both of my feet were on the ground, I was at a loss. I really wanted to talk to Sammy, but things had been awkward with my imprint since my birthday party and because of that, we were kind of avoiding each other. I decided to go see cousin Robin, but backed out of that when I realized the second that Aunt Rachel saw me, she'd call her brother and then the family would come get me.

Instead, what I ended up doing was running. It was cathartic to be in control again. I hated that my body had decided to rebel against me. It was time to fight back. I wasn't going to let my impending doom get me down. I didn't end of getting very far, though.

I was just past the little cottage where Grandpa Edward and Grandma Bella used to live when my nose picked up a familiar scent. Usually I had to be phased or much closer to recognize it, but I guess that one percent of vampire venom was kicking in strongly.

"I know you're there, Sammy. What were you doing...following me? Did my parents tell you to watch me?" I huffed out, slowing my run to a jog and circling back to the cottage. The black wolf peered his head around the corner of the cottage, looking every bit like a puppy caught peeing on the carpet. He edged closer to me, the awkwardness causing him to stop a few feet from me.

"It's okay, I think I'm ready to talk." I said and Sammy-wolf moved so that he was sitting at my feet. I squatted so that I could be face-to-face with him. It felt better this way, easier after what happened at my party, and so I decided to tell him everything. "But, can you keep this in your own head?" I asked, knowing that as a potential Alpha, he had the ability to keep the other wolves from his head just like I could.

A big wolfie grin told me that it was just the two of us.

"I'm going to be a vampire." I said plainly, wanting to know how he'd respond. "I'm going through the Transformation right now."

Sammy looked confused as he tried to convey his thoughts to me without the use of his words. He chomped his teeth down and then raised a canine eyebrow as best as he could. It would have been funny if I hadn't been in such a grumpy mood already.

"No, no. I didn't get bitten." I answered, knowing what he meant. "I keep passing out because my body is trying to make me more vampire. I'm close to physical maturity," I tried not to blush as I said that, "and I guess I was supposed to be more vampire than human all along. I figure that's why I phase, so that I can slowly become more like my true self."

Saying the words aloud brought up the other part of why I was so devastated. Sammy put his paw on mine and as I stared up into his dark eyes, I felt myself losing it.

"You did this to me! I was fine with how I was and I could have changed to be more like my family and I would have been fine, but you had to go and change all of that!" I could feel the tears down my cheeks, but I ignored them. "If you hadn't...at the party...I just...I didn't want a family other than the one I had and now I can't have them and it's all your fault!"

I knew it wasn't his fault, but getting angry at Sammy for what changed between us at the party was easier than being sad about potentially not getting to have children of my own someday. Unfortunately, yelling at a wolf felt wrong. And the more I yelled, the more that I realized how untrue it was. This wasn't anyone's fault. It was just nature taking its course.

Sammy, like a good imprint, sat there and took it as I cried my eyes out because that was what I needed from him. I wrapped my arms around his furry neck and buried my head into the crook there. "I'm sorry, Sammy. I didn't mean it." I apologized when my tears slowed down. "I'm just upset about what's wrong with me."

Sammy whined. 'There's nothing wrong with you.' I could practically hear him saying.

"Yes, there is." I replied to his thoughts. "I'm only 99% human now. I'm slowly, or at least we hope slowly, becoming more vampire than human. That's why I keep going in these mini-comas. I don't know what to do, Sammy. I don't want to Change now that I'm finally comfortable with who I am..." I admitted for the first time out loud. It felt good to get this all off of my chest.

"I mean, it was hard enough being a phasing vampire and now I'm going to lose my humanity completely?" I took a deep breath, breathing in the scent of my wolf. "The Council was already on my case. Who knows what they'll do. I'll probably have to move off the Rez when I'm done Changing. I know that when it's all said and done, my family will be happy since it means that I'll be around forever, but I'm not sure that I want it to happen like this. There's so much life that I have yet to live. As a human. With you. I know that things are weird between us, and I'm sorry about that, but it scared me, Sammy. I'm not ready to face my future, but it seems like I'm going to have to be. I don't have a lot of time..."

I felt Sammy-wolf trying to get me to look at him, so I let go of my grip on his neck and faced him again. His big wolfie eyes were glistening and I wondered if he was about to cry. I had only ever seen one wolf cry and that was Seth during the battle when he was greatly injured. I didn't see why Sammy would want to cry now, though. He wasn't hurt physically.

Sammy-wolf put one paw on top of the other and tapped it twice at where his wrist was. It took me a few times of him doing this before I realized what he was talking about. Time.

"Carlisle has no idea how long this Transformation will take." I admitted. "I'm too special for my own good. It could be anywhere between two and a half months to four years, he thinks. All we can do is wait."

Sammy-wolf nodded and we went back to silence, my body pressed against his fur for warmth as it got cooler and I realized that no one had changed me out of my track uniform (my aunts must have been really worried to not care about my wardrobe). It was getting dark out, but neither of us really cared. I felt better getting it all off of my chest and I knew that Sammy was just happy that I was finally talking to him again since I had been avoiding him since the party.

I would have stayed here all night but I knew that I would get Sammy in trouble with his parents and I didn't really want to worry my own any more than I already had. I stood up and my imprint got on all fours along with my two.

"I'm going to be fine." I told Sammy-wolf, looking at him with intensity as I brushed off the dirt from my shorts.

He grinned wolfishly and let out a little bark. Apparently I was missing out on the joke, but I was glad to see that he was happy again. If I didn't have a long time left being human, I wanted to have as much fun with my imprint as I could. Who knew if me being more vampire would change our imprint or not? Either way, I was not going to pretend that I didn't love him anymore. I had wasted too much time running from my feelings already. I was ready to accept my fate, come what may.

I grinned back at Sammy, giving him a wink as I asked him if he wanted to race back to the Cullen Mansion.

Instead of grunting or acknowledging the race like I figured he would, Sammy-wolf put his muzzle against my face and licked my cheek before taking off towards the house. That was the second time that he had (sort of) kissed me and one of us had run off. Only, this time, I wasn't going to let him get away with it lightly. I chased after my imprint, laughing as he slowed down so I could keep up, the night air refreshing against my skin as I ran.

"Just you wait until I can keep up with you!" I taunted, a smile on my lips as I entered the backyard.

For the first time in a while, I felt like things would be okay. I was still afraid of what my future had in store for me, but I was ready to face it. I had my family and my friends and my imprint. No matter what happened with me, that would never change.


	37. Sammy's POV: Loving My Imprint

**(The day of Mary's birthday party to fill in some of the gaps that I know you guys are all dying to know about...)**

I was in the middle of eating my cereal when I felt a burden lifted from my chest and let out a dramatically deep breath. _Mary. _

Right on cue, the phone in the kitchen rang.

"That's probably the Cullens." I said, letting my mother answer the phone. I already knew what the person on the phone was going to say.

"Mary's party is back on." My mother Emily confirmed when she got off the phone with Nessie Black. "I'll tell your father when he gets back from the Council and we can head over to the Cullens'."

"Looks like your girlfriend is finally up." Tanner teased.

"She's not my girlfriend. I'm just happy to hear that she woke up." I defended, my cheeks red regardless. I was kind of upset that I hadn't been by her side when she woke up, but I knew that she would have felt more comfortable with her family.

"Tanner, leave your brother alone." Mom said sternly. "We're all happy to hear that Mary has woken up. I don't know what this tribe would have done if the Alpha's daughter had died."

Not to mention my imprint, I wanted to add but felt it was unneeded. An imprint had never died in our generation but the stories told us exactly what happened when an imprint died: so did the wolf who was tied to her. I knew that it was true because going to her bedside for the last three days proved that. Seeing her so lifeless was torturous to my very being.

Later that afternoon, I was standing by the dessert table with my buddies and just waiting for my imprint to make her grand appearance. I could barely enjoy the triple chocolate four layer cake when I had yet to see my imprint.

And an appearance did she make. Granted, probably not the one that she was planning, but it was effective nonetheless.

God, she looked beautiful. Even just standing and talking to her parents, Mary looked amazing. I know that her family was worried that she wouldn't wake up in time for her birthday party, but I was just worried that she wouldn't wake up at all. Three whole days of sitting by my imprint's side, holding her hand and kissing the top of her head (things I probably wouldn't do if she was awake because she'd be embarrassed by the attention from one of her friends), and praying that she wasn't going to die.

When she got startled and phased when we yelled 'surprise,' that's when I knew that Mary would be okay after all. Her instincts were just too good for her to be that far from her perfect normal self.

I watched her from across the room, tracking her movements as she slowly made her way towards the dessert table, my eyes on her the entire time.

"Greg?" Mary all-but whispered. I'm not even sure she pushed air through her mouth, the word just on the tip of her tongue as she noticed the Pack member missing from the dessert table.

I shook my head, trying to keep my face clear of emotions but I doubt that I fooled Mary. She swallowed deeply, closed her eyes for a brief second, and then a moment of panic flickered across my imprint's face as she sought out other missing family members. Her eyes landed on a beaten up Seth and relief flooded those beautiful brown orbs.

"Hey, it's okay." I said, not able to resist the urge to place my hand comfortingly on her shoulder. I could see that she was frightened by the loss of our friend. I was, too. But it didn't make anything better by having a pity-party for him. Even Gretchen had slowly begun to accept the fact that her brother was a willing participant...mostly. "We'll get through this. Everyone knew the risks going into the battle."

And, suddenly, Mary was crying in my chest. "It's all my fault." She whimpered and my arms instinctively went around her.

"Shhh, Mary, it's not your fault." I rubbed the small of her back with my hand.

I looked over her shoulder for her parents and caught eye contact with the Alpha. I tilted my head to signal that I wanted to take Mary outside and away from the party-goers since she was so upset. He nodded, a frown on his face as he saw his little girl crying, before going back to his conversation with Quil Sr. and Billy.

"Hey, why don't we get out of here for a bit, huh?" I suggested, hoping she would agree. "I'll have you back before Alice cuts the cake."

Mary nodded, wiped her eyes, and took my hand when I reached for it. I couldn't keep my hands off of her for a second after almost thinking that I would lose her. It wasn't a sexual thing; I just needed to be near my imprint. Her heartbeat was beating as fast as mine was as we made our way far enough from the house so as not to be overheard.

"It's not your fault, you know." I spoke up after awhile, knowing that Mary was feeling guilty about Greg's death.

"Sure it's not." Mary scoffed. "I was the one who went all martyr and forced the wolves to go to London in the first place. If it hadn't been for me, Greg would still be alive and Seth wouldn't have gotten so badly injured. And if I hadn't made the wolves fight, Seth would have never imprinted and Ceciely wouldn't have died to save her sister and I suspect that Huilen wouldn't have died either."

"Jacob made it _very_ clear that no one had to go to with him." I said, needing for her to understand that. When I got the call from our Alpha hearing that Mary was going after the Volturi with her family, I didn't think twice about it. My Packmates, however, thought it through a lot. "You are not responsible for their lives any more than I am. The Volturi did this. Not you."

Mary pressed her lips together adorably, though the intention was to pout. Her eyes clearly showed her thought process as the beautiful brown orbs moved back and forth for a minute or two.

"What about Gemma?" I asked, trying to ease her unnecessary guilt. "You had no part in her death at all. Do you feel like her death is your fault, too?"

"I-I don't know. I know it sounds stupid when you say it like that...I just...I was out of the battle and unable to help. I feel like if I hadn't been under Alec's spell, I could have made a difference." Mary rambled.

"Mary, Mary, Mary..." I smiled in disbelief; my imprint never ceased to amaze me. "Do you even know what you did for our side?"

"I only killed one vampire." Mary mumbled, her eyes full of guilt and remorse. "Hardly helpful."

"_One_ vampire? One vampire! You took out _Jane._ Mary, she was the most dangerous Guard member. You took out our biggest threat without even blinking. You, young lady, were the very opposite of 'hardly helpful.'" I couldn't believe my imprint was so modest. This was why I loved her. And, for the first time, I wasn't afraid to admit it to myself. I had been falling in love with Mary for some time now. Tanner was right, I did wish that she was my girlfriend. Or at least that. I know that she only just turned fourteen, but I saw myself with her for the rest of our lives.

"You really think so?" Mary asked, a smile on her lips, and it took me a second to realize what I had just said since I was so caught up in my epiphany.

"I really do." I smiled down at her since I was a good head taller than she was. "Mary, you amaze me."

And then I did the thing that I had been longing to do since I boarded the plane to France with my imprint and realized that I was willing to risk my life to keep her safe not just because of the imprint bond but because I really, truly, one-hundred percent was in love with her. For two brief seconds, I was in heaven as I felt her warm, though much less than my own, lips against mine.

Instantly, I could see that it was a mistake. Mary froze, her soft lips against mine stilling as she pulled herself away from me. Like I was the plague. Idiot. You stupid idiot. Her eyes were wide as saucers as she stared at me like the monster that I knew I now was.

"I'm so sorry, Mary." I blurted out, hating the way that the words formed on my mouth as I tried to take back my first kiss with the girl that I loved. I reached my arm out to her as she started walking backwards towards the house.

"I...I have to get back to my party." Mary skidded off to the house, literally running away from me.

Mary looked so scared in that moment, her always easy to read face clear as day. Oh, god, what had I just done? She was fourteen for crying out loud! I was two years older than she was. This was wrong...and yet, it felt so right. I just couldn't believe that I stole her first kiss from her like that. I had wanted it to be special. I had wanted her to initiate it so that she felt in control. I had, at least, wanted her to want me. Instead, I scared her off. Who knew when she would talk to me again?

I followed behind her, not because I wanted to have to see that expression on her face, but because I needed to. My imprint was even more confused and upset than she was when we left for our walk. There was no way that I could let her go in there by herself. All I needed was another moment alone with her to explain what had happened.

I never got the chance, though, because a Cullen party is never still. Alice kept to her schedule like a warden and Mary was the unfortunate prisoner. My imprint seemed to enjoy her party as long as she avoided eye contact with me, though, so I tried to let her have her fun. We cut the ginormous cake, which the wolves devoured, and Mary opened her presents from her family and a few of the Pack members.

I had already given her my gift before the Volturi battle but I was happy to see that she had the bracelet on her wrist today as she opened her extravagant presents from the Cullens. It warmed my heart that even though she seemed upset by my actions earlier today, she subconsciously placed her other two birthday bracelets (one a diamond band from Edward and Bella and the other a beaded thing from two year old Clara Ateara) on her left wrist. Her charm bracelet from me was still secured on her right one where I had put it the day before the battle.

I think the Cullens felt awful that the youngest member of their clan had been injured and were overcompensating by throwing their money around. Not that they didn't do that already, but it felt extremely over-the-top this time. Rosalie was the only one who didn't seem to go overboard, but I think the loss of her own creation/daughter had her not in the best of moods. She still showered her little niece, but it was a practical gift instead of the completely new wardrobe that I assumed she would have given Mary under normal circumstances.

I never got a chance to speak with Mary, no matter how many times I tried. There was always someone she had to talk to at that exact moment. I was set to wait until after all of the guests had left, but when my family was packing up the van to leave, Edward came over to me. He shook my hand, which was unusual for a Cullen. They tried not to make wolves uncomfortable with their touch.

"Thank you for coming to Mary's party. I know that she appreciated you all showing up." He spoke to my whole family, though his eyes were on mine.

"I was hoping to stick around and talk to her, if you guys wouldn't mind." I piped up, knowing that it was now or never.

"Actually, I don't think that's such a good idea. Carlisle and I are going to be running a few tests on Mary to make sure that she's alright." Edward said, though I could tell from his gaze that he knew that I had kissed Mary and she didn't want to speak to me. He looked down at me sympathetically when I thought that. Great. Now I was getting pity from a bloodsucker. My life could probably not get much worse.

"I'm sure you can come by tomorrow to check up on her yourself." Edward suggested. "I'm sure she'll be in better spirits then."

"Yeah, sure." I said, getting in the back of the van next to Sally, Johnny, and Jessy, letting Emmie sit in front with Tanner for once. We were one person too many for this van, but since we rarely all rode together there wasn't really a need to spend money for a new vehicle. On the Rez, you make due with what you have.

I didn't go see her on Sunday, though. I couldn't. I knew what Mary would say to me: that I was disgusting and she hated me and that she never wanted me to see her again. And I just couldn't handle that. I figured that if we could just ignore the kiss that it would go away and we could go back to being best friends again.

I almost spoke to her on Monday morning, but chickened out. It was difficult to sit in class without Greg and I let myself focus on the loss of one of my best friends instead of the awkwardness between me and my imprint. And it worked. I didn't think about Mary until track practice. She and Robin were taking twice as long to change as usual and JJ teased me about going to check on them, but my fist near his face stopped that. I didn't hit him, but if I hadn't seen Mary and Robin coming out of the girls' room, I might have.

"I think I'm reading too much into what happened..." I overheard Mary say to her cousin as they neared us.

"Oh? What happened?" Robin asked and even though I knew that she was talking about the kiss, I had to know for sure.

"It was nothing. I'll tell you later." Mary blushed and I knew I was right. She was embarrassed to have to talk about my mistake.

Mary managed to avoid me throughout practice. Even when we were lined up together with JJ midway through practice, she still wouldn't look me in the eye. I couldn't stand that she was avoiding me but at least I knew why. Mary gained speed in our final lap of our third heat, finally meeting my gaze, when suddenly she was on the ground as her knees buckled underneath her and her head neared the ground. I sprinted to her side, managing to catch her at the last second and place her now semi-unconscious body on the ground gently.

JJ had only stopped running when he passed the finish line in first place for a change. He looked back at us in confusion before bursting out of his clothes and into the mildly giant wolf that he was. He howled one long noise, signalling trouble to any other wolves in the area. I heard a response cry but didn't care if it was Leah or Jacob. Either way, the Alpha would know soon and that was all that mattered.

"Robin, go call Dr. Cullen. NOW!" Embry Call demanded, sprinting towards us.

"I'll call Nessie." Gretchen volunteered, pulling out her cell phone that she had been given since her brother's death when her parents' concern for their children's safety skyrocketed.

"Thank you." Embry said before turning to my best friend, knowing that I wouldn't leave Mary's side for anything. "Peter, can you phase? I'm sure Jacob will need to be here as well."

"JJ is already on it, Coach." Peter said, pointing towards the wolf near the finish line and the pile of shredded clothing. I guess that the Coach was too distracted with trying to get to Mary to notice.

"Don't let her fall asleep. Someone keep her talking." Embry commanded, trying to do anything to keep his Alpha's daughter alive. Jacob would kill him if anything happened to his little girl on his watch.

"How are you feeling? Mary, stay with me." I begged, knowing that she was already too far gone to respond.

"Can you count how many fingers I'm holding up?...Sh-." Embry nearly cursed but then stopped himself when he remembered the girls. It wasn't proper to talk the same way that he did around the Pack around Gretchen, Diana, and Robin. It probably wasn't a word that they hadn't heard before from their brothers. It was an appreciated gesture, though. Especially since he was a teacher. There are just some boundaries that are better not to cross.

"Keep your eyes open, Mary. Guys, step back and give her some air!" Embry yelled, panic in his deep voice.

"Mary, please be okay." I whispered as I saw the life drain out of her for the second time in a week.

Please, God, please don't take Mary from me, I prayed as Carlisle and Edward showed up to the track field. Nessie and Bella weren't far behind and Jacob showed up looking every bit like a papa bear. They took over, checking her pulse and breathing, before stabilizing her in the back of Carlisle's car. I rode with a frantic Jacob, trying to calm him down as Bella drove.

"I swear to God if I lose my little girl because of the Volturi..." I didn't know where he was going with that threat since the Volturi had either been killed or scattered in fear, but I liked the way that the threat sounded. Jacob the Alpha wouldn't let anything happen to Mary and I was comforted by that even though it was a bit ridiculous. Neither of us could do anything and yet just being together made it seem like Mary had a better chance.

"Mary's going to be fine, sir." I piped up. Because if Mary was leaving this world, my heart would have stopped along with hers. It felt heavy, just like it did the last time she was passed out, but that gave me comfort. "I can feel it."

Jacob didn't say anything but I knew that he felt better with my confirmation. An imprint bond was something that you didn't mess with. It was like Alice's visions. No one questioned you.

"Thank you." Bella mouthed from the driver's seat towards me, not needing her eyes on the road with her vampire reflexes.

Jacob, wanting to take control, corrected her for it though. "Bells, eyes on the road." I knew he was trying not to be bothered with the fact that he couldn't be with Mary right now. Nessie only got in the car with the two doctors because she refused to let go of Mary's hand and Edward knew his daughter was going to be stubborn about it.

Once we all arrived at the Cullen Mansion, they rushed Mary upstairs to the purple room and set her up in the bed like before. Esme retrieved the medical bag for her mate while we all waited downstairs. Twenty minutes later, the pair returned from Mary's room and met us at the landing.

"I'm running a few blood tests on Mary, but she appears to be in the same shape as she was a few days ago." Carlisle admitted. "I don't know what's wrong, but as soon as I do, you all will be the first to know."

"Thank you, Doc." Jacob said, putting his hand on the vampire's shoulder.

"Can we go see her?" Nessie asked, upset that she had to be parted with her daughter for a moment, let alone twenty.

"She may have visitors, but I should warn you all that Mary will be unresponsive." Carlisle advised. "It's best not to get your hopes up about her condition at this point. Who knows how long she will be in this mini-coma."

"Mary's going to be fine." I said shakily. "Just you wait and see."

"Would you like to go up there with me?" Nessie asked. I figured she was asking her mate, but when I looked up, her eyes were on me and not Mary's father.

"Very much so." I admitted. The last time that Mary was unconscious, I stayed by her side the entire three days no matter which family member was there. I only left for the meals that my mother insisted I eat at home and to run patrol; I even slept on the chair in Mary's room. To be asked to go see her, well, I'm not gonna lie, it felt nice.

"You know she cares about you a lot, Sammy." Nessie said randomly. We had been sitting in chairs across from each other for over two hours, just staring at the sleeping beauty in between us without saying a word. I was startled when she spoke up.

"I know that. She's my imprint, she has to." I replied, not realizing how bitter I sounded until the words left my lips and Nessie's eyes, so big and brown like my Mary's, widen.

Nessie shook her head. "You sound just like Mary."

"You...you talked to her about me?" I don't know why this would surprise me. Mary talked to her mother about pretty much everything. They were as close as sisters, and I'm not just saying that because they look like it more recently.

"Mary was conflicted when you didn't visit her yesterday." Nessie admitted, playing with a thread on the quilt on Mary's bed.

"So you know about what happened at the party." I stated, though I wasn't entirely sure that she did.

Nessie nodded. "She said you caught her off guard and she ran away."

"Do you think that she regretted it?" I asked, hope evident in my voice.

Mary's mother sighed. "I know that she's confused and a little overwhelmed right now. Maybe you shouldn't try to spring it on her again?"

"That wasn't how our first kiss was supposed to happen. I planned it going a lot differently, too, actually. I'd like to court her properly so that I can marry her one day...only, now I'm afraid she'll never speak to me again and none of my intentions will matter." I said glumly.

"It will all work out in the end." Mary's mother smiled at me. "Just give it some time."

"That's what I'm afraid of." I mumbled, looking at my frail-looking imprint lying on the bed like that for the second time in a week. "What if Mary doesn't get better?" I asked, more to myself than to her mother.

"Then we will love her with all that we have now." Nessie said quietly.

"I already do." I bent down to kiss my imprint's forehead and prepared to leave.

"Jacob is headed up the stairs and I'm sure my mother wants me home for dinner." I said as an explanation for my departure. "I'll be back later tonight."

"I'll make sure to leave out a blanket for you." Nessie smiled at me and while it was bright, there was so much less carefree-ness as was in Mary's that it hurt to watch.

I went over in the mornings before school, skipped lunch period for the next two days, and spent nearly all of the night over at the Cullens' so that I could check up on Mary. I was there when she woke up, but I was downstairs. Edward thought it might be best if I waited somewhere else while they told Mary what they thought was wrong with her. They wouldn't tell me what it was, though, since I wasn't family and they figured that Mary would want to tell me herself.

I understood all of that completely, but I couldn't just_ leave_. What if Mary needed me? So I sat under the giant willow tree near the cottage that Nessie lived in with her parents as a child. This way, I was close enough to see if Mary left the house, but far enough away that I wasn't tempted to eavesdrop on their conversations. I had to give Mary her privacy with her family.

Like I suspected, though, Mary wanted her own version of privacy _from_ her family. I spotted her figure crawling out the window on the second story of the Cullen Mansion a mere half hour later. I assumed that she was trying to run away from her problems, but she didn't get very far before she picked up my scent. When I saw she was headed towards the cottage, I tried to hide in hopes that she wouldn't yell at me. Not that I didn't deserve it for kissing her and then seeming like I abandoned her only to stalk her as soon as she was unconscious...yeah, it sends a very awful message to a girl.

"I know you're there, Sammy." My imprint said and I stuck my head around the side of the house where I had been hiding. "What were you doing...following me? Did my parents tell you to watch me?" Mary asked angrily, though I couldn't tell if it was at me or her parents.

I scooted a few feet from her, but stopped short since I wasn't sure how she would respond. I wanted to tell her that I was sorry for all of it, but I couldn't. She stared at me for a minute before speaking again. "It's okay, I think I'm ready to talk."

I moved the last little bit closer, so that I was practically on top of her feet, and she squatted down to be eye level with me.

"But, can you keep this in your own head?" Mary asked and I gave her a big wolfie grin. As soon as I spotted her on the windowsill, I blocked out the other wolves in case Jacob tried to find her through tell-a-wolf.

"I'm going to be a vampire. I'm going through the Transformation right now." Mary said bluntly. She seemed to be looking for a fight, but I wasn't going to give her one unless I knew what was wrong. Picking a fight with an imprint is a bad move, unless you're Paul and Rachel and then that sort of works for them. I didn't want Mary to fight. I wanted her to be happy, but I knew she wouldn't be until she talked to someone about her fears.

It was a lot harder to talk to her in wolf form, but I did my best. I chomped my teeth down and then raised a canine eyebrow as best as I could, trying to get her to laugh at the ridiculousness of the idea of her getting bitten and becoming. She didn't.

"No, no. I didn't get bitten." Mary explained, missing the joking aspect of my question. "I keep passing out because my body is trying to make me more vampire. I'm close to physical maturity," Mary blushed as she, like I did, thought about the kiss, "and I guess I was supposed to be more vampire than human all along. I figure that's why I phase, so that I can slowly become more like my true self."

I put my paw on her hand to comfort her, but it backfired. Instead of being reassured that no matter what self she was, she would always be the same to me, she started angrily crying and yelled at me again.

"You did this to me! I was fine with how I was and I could have changed to be more like my family and I would have been fine, but you had to go and change all of that! If you hadn't...at the party...I just...I didn't want a family other than the one I had and...now I can't have them and it's all your fault!"

Can't have them? What can't she have now? A family with me? But I would marry her right now if that was acceptable. But she clearly said 'them.' She didn't mean in-laws, that much was obvious. So what could it be?

And then, like the idiot that I am, I finally got it. She meant_ kids._ She wouldn't be able to have kids once she was a vampire. Or, at least, that's what I assumed. It made sense, though. That was why the blonde vamp went so crazy and started the battle with the Volturi. Because she wanted a child so desperately and couldn't make one of her own with her mate. Did Mary want that for us someday? Was that why she was crying into my chest now? She buried her head in the crook of my neck and I felt like we could do anything as long as we were together. I could help her get over the loss of a need for a child if she would just stick with me.

"I'm sorry, Sammy. I didn't mean it. I know it's not your fault. I'm just upset about what's wrong with me." Mary apologized and I wished I were in human form so I could tell her how there wasn't a thing in the world wrong with her, but instead I could only whine.

And Mary dropped the bombshell. The truth that the Cullens didn't want to have to tell me, afraid how the werewolf imprinter would act.

"I'm only 99% human now. I'm slowly, or at least we hope slowly, becoming more vampire than human. That's why I keep going in these mini-comas. I don't know what to do, Sammy. I don't want to Change now that I'm finally comfortable with who I am...I mean, it was hard enough being a phasing vampire and now I'm going to lose my humanity completely?"

Mary took a calming breath and I could have sworn that she sniffed me while she did so. "The Council was already on my case. Who knows what they'll do. I'll probably have to move off the Rez when I'm done Changing..."

NO. Mary couldn't leave. I don't care what the Council thinks. Even if Mary becomes a full vampire, there's no way that I could let my imprint be forced out of the tribe. The current Alpha's daughter and the future Alpha's imprint? Not a chance that Old Quil and those other hateful, prejudice little men can deny her the right to live there. I'd leave with the Blacks before I'd let them tell me that my Mary wasn't allowed on our territory.

And then where would that leave the tribe? Without _two_ rightful Alphas. Without a direct bloodline, no one would be able to really take over the Pack. Even Leah, who temporarily had control of Jacob's Pack back when there _were_ two Packs, didn't actually have control. The wolves were just following her to follow someone. She couldn't give commands...and neither can anyone that isn't a blood relative of the originals.

Mary continued, not noticing how distressed I was becoming, her words doing little to comfort the fears now in my mind. "I know that when it's all said and done, my family will be happy since it means that I'll be around forever, but I'm not sure that I want it to happen like this. There's so much life that I have yet to live. As a human. With you. I know that things are weird between us, and I'm sorry about that, but it scared me, Sammy. I'm not ready to face my future, but it seems like I'm going to have to be. I don't have a lot of time..."

Not a lot of time? I felt like I was going to cry, suddenly needing my imprint to look at me so that I could ask her how much. I couldn't lose her now that we were sort of at a good place. In that awkward transition from best friends to maybe something more and now she might not be around much longer?

Even if she didn't die (please, God, don't you dare take her away from me), her family would probably want her to get away from humans for awhile until she was able to control herself. I doubt they would take me with them. I wasn't about to let either of those things happen. But knowing how much time we had left together before everything changed would be great.

I put one paw on top of the other and tapped it twice in question, hoping she would understand the gesture.

"Carlisle has no idea how long this Transformation will take. I'm too special for my own good. It could be anywhere between two and a half months to four years, he thinks. All we can do is wait." Mary sounded so sad when she mentioned that she was special and I hated the fact that she hated that word so much. Because how would I explain how special she was to me when she had such a negative connotation with the word already?

I nodded, thinking about what she had just said. Four years at best...I could work with that. I was going to make sure that she had every human experience that she felt she was entitled to. I wished it was her whole lifetime, but at least if she stopped aging, then I could stay wolf forever and we could take over the Pack whenever she wanted. We could lead the next generation of wolves side-by-side.

Unfortunately, this line of thinking got me thinking about my dream, and every wolf's, to have a son among the Pack or a daughter who is just as willing to defend the honor of our land. Could I really give up this dream if Mary couldn't give me children? I had thought about it before and I knew the answer: yes. Mary's well-being mattered much more than the thought of an heir to the Pack. It seemed cruel, however, that a Uley imprinted on a Black and there wouldn't be any offspring from that inevitable union. Fate sure was a tricky bastard.

I became wrapped up in my own thoughts as Mary lay against my fur. We stayed like that for hours until the night air seemed too much for her skin and she stood up. I followed instinctively, shaking out my hind legs that had fallen asleep under her. I knew her parents probably knew where we were by now and were just giving us time to work things out. One look at Mary's face in the moonlight told me that she was less stressed about her future and I was glad to have been able to help. Still, I bet her parents couldn't wait to talk to her about all of this.

"I'm going to be fine." Mary told me and I couldn't stop my little bark, the closest thing that wolves can do to laughter. I had said the same thing all week to her family members.

"You think it's so funny, fine then." Mary pretended to pout but it was a full out grin before she could stop it. She even winked. "You wanna race back to the Cullens'?"

I was glad to see her mood change for the better. I had missed this carefree Mary. She had been hiding behind the carry-the-world-on-her-shoulders Mary since we boarded the plane to France. Ironically, that was also when I realized I loved her. I love all of her personalities, not just the good ones. But I sure did miss this playful one.

I was so excited to have my lovable imprint back that I licked her cheek, the equivalent of kissing her, and realized too late that it was probably the wrong thing to do considering how she acted the last time I kissed her. So I took off running towards the house.

Mary chased after me, letting out a happy laugh. When I heard that and looked back at the giant grin on her face, I realized she wasn't angry and slowed down so she could catch up. Humans were much slower than vampires or wolves.

"Just you wait until I can keep up with you!" Mary teased, for the first time acknowledging a plus to her impending Transformation. As long as I could keep her spirits high, I think that we could get through this together just fine.


	38. Everything Has Changed

_Previously:_

_I'm only 99% human now. I'm slowly, or at least we hope slowly, becoming more vampire than human. That's why I keep going in these mini-comas. Carlisle has no idea how long this Transformation will take: anywhere between two and a half months to four years. __  
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><p>The following Monday after being trapped at the Cullens for the rest of the week so that my doctor relatives could run more tests on me, I told my friends the news of what I was potentially becoming.<p>

It was a hard decision for my parents to let me go back to school after finding out what I was becoming. It took them up until the very last minute this morning while I was getting in my school clothes for them to actually give me a straightforward "yes" as an answer.

Not because they didn't think that I could handle my thirst (which was a negative ten on the vampire scale), but because they weren't sure that I could handle the reactions of my classmates. Sammy already knew and that was all that really mattered to me. I had come to terms with what I would possibly become. Until I was kicked off the Reservation, I was going to live in my home with pride.

"Woah..." Robin said, sucking in a deep breath. "So you're really a partial vampire right now?"

I nodded. "One percent. Barely even enough to feel it. I'm still the same me."

"No, you're not. I mean, no offense, Cuz, but ave you seen yourself?" Peter asked with a raised eyebrow. "You look older and it's only been a week. No one changes that much in a week, Mary."

"Peter's right, you do look different." JJ said, a blush on his innocent little cheeks. At thirteen, he was just beginning to realize that girls indeed didn't have cooties.

Sammy, unfortunately for JJ, took the comment offensively. He got all territorial-like and let out a low growl of a warning to the young pup. _Mine._ I could practically hear him saying.

"Shh. Sammy, stop that." I chided; though, if I was being honest, I would have been thrilled that he was jealous. We weren't exactly dating, since we didn't talk about the kiss since my little meltdown, but I felt like we were alright. We were sort of together, but without needing titles or anything. He was my imprint and I was his. This was the natural progression.

"I'll admit that I've advanced a little bit in appearance since my fainting spell." I tried not to blush as I thought about the little bit of cushion added to my chest while my body was starting the Transformation a few days ago. "Carlisle suspects that since I'm going through my normal human cycles as well, that the Change is only boosting what would have happened if I had been born without my mother's DNA. I'm still the same me, though. And I will be the same me when I'm finished."

"I don't know why we're even talking about this. Like any of it matters." Gretchen sneered, sounding more like her mother, Kim, than usual. "They won't let you stay here."

"The Council can't make her leave. Can they?" Diana asked, looking between her best friend and me. I could tell she didn't know who to side with. Gretchen had been Diana's best friend since they were infants and she had her brother taken away from her because Greg volunteered for a mission against the Volturi, making me inadvertently the bad guy in her eyes.

"I've heard rumors about that." Tanner said. "About Mary having to leave the Reservation because she's Changing."

"Rumors that you started." Sammy growled at his brother. "How did you even find out about Mary's condition?"

"Oh, like you or Jacob ever keep anything quiet while you're phased." Tanner sounded just as resentful as Gretchen did. "Especially when it involves your precious little Mary. I knew as soon as you did."

"So you were the one who told the Council about it? That was why they already knew whenever Jacob went to go talk to them." Sammy really looked like he might slug his brother right now. And, this time, I don't think that I would have stopped him.

"I admit it." Tanner smirked. "I did this town a favor by ratting out the Cullens."

"Who knows if they would have ever told us?" Gretchen sneered again, her bitterness seeping through with every word. "Mary is dangerous and I think the tribe would be better off without her here."

"This is my home. I am not a threat." I said, trying not to let her words get to me.

"You being here is a threat against all of us." Gretchen pushed away her tray, her untouched food sliding around on it as she stood up.

"Gretchen, how could you say that?" Robin asked, appalled by her young friend's accusations. "Mary hasn't done anything to you."

"She killed my brother!" Gretchen let angry tears slip down her cheeks, but didn't wipe them off of her face in protest.

"Greg signed up for the mission, just like Peter and I did." Sammy growled and I knew how much it was upsetting him to talk about his dead friend like that. "He knew the risks just like the rest of us. It was his choice to go or not."

"From what Peter remembers of the battle, Greg was having second thoughts about it. He was scared and just wanted to go home!" Tanner, too, looked like he might cry. It was hard to remember that he was only a kid himself sometimes. All of the Pack boys tried to act tough, but they were just young teenagers following in their fathers' footsteps.

"Mary didn't kill Greg." Robin spat out. "The Volturi did."

Gretchen glared at me, even though she was speaking to Robin still. "Her and her kind need to be off of our land for good. We were better off without them."

"That's not really your decision, is that?" Robin growled.

Tanner stood up with Gretchen. "Come on, Gretch, let's get out of here."

"Leave the traitors with the freak." Gretchen agreed. "Let them all stand trial for all I care."

"What's this about a trial?" I asked. This was the first I had heard of it.

"The Council was preparing a trial long before you started Changing." Peter said. "Before your birthday, when you were knocked out, they warned Jacob because he has always been a fine leader and they didn't want to lose him again."

"But now..." Gretchen smirked. "Everything has changed."


	39. Alpha's Anger

"Am I really going to have to go to trial?" I asked my parents at the dinner table that night. The question caught my father so off guard that he put down his fork even though it was full of Momma's mashed potatoes and he had just gotten off of patrol.

"What are you talking about, sweetie?" Nessie asked, looking like this was the first she had hear of it. "Jake, what is she talking about?"

My father ignored her and stared at me. "Mary, what did you hear?"

"So it's true?" Nessie asked, but still no one answered her. "Jake, I thought that was just a possibility?"

"I...Gretchen mentioned it." My cheeks were flushed as I looked at my father. I don't know why, but I felt like I was already on trial. "She, um, was angry."

"Jacob Ephraim Black, if you ignore me for one more moment, you'll be sleeping on the couch." Nessie threatened. But it got our attention.

"I'm so sorry, Ness. I would never ignore you. Not really. I mean, I did. But that was just because this thing with Mary is a really big deal and I had to find out how much she knew before blurted it out to you. I didn't want either of you to worry." Jacob apologized, laying on the imprint love thick from what I could see.

"You'd better start explaining it to me now, then." I could tell that my mom was not going to back down even though the look in Jacob's eyes told me that what he had to say wasn't good. What could be worse than what I already thought?

"I'm not going to have to leave, will I?" I asked, trying to give my father an easy way to start explaining. I had a lot of questions, too.

"Never. I wouldn't let the stupid Council kick my family off of our land again." Jacob growled lightly.

"So Robin wasn't kidding about Aunt Rebecca not being allowed to come home." I stated and Nessie gasped.

"Jake, you never told me that. The Council did that?" Mom looked like she might cry. "I haven't seen Rebecca since the wedding. I was really looking forward to her visit. What happened?"

Dad ran his hand through his hair. "Becks wrote this stupid essay for her cultural anthropology class about the ancestry of the tribe...and her teacher was fascinated and pushed it on to a publisher who picked it up and loved it. She really tried to stop it, but the publisher printed a few practice copies and...it just got out of hand. My sister, the best seller! But the Council found out and said that she was betraying the tribe. My vote didn't count, apparently, because Rebecca isn't allowed to step foot on La Push soil as long as they're in charge."

"I'd like to take a swing at the Council." My mother hissed. "They had no right to do that."

"You might get your chance if this actually happens." Jacob sighed.

"So Mary really is on trial to them?" My mother looked livid.

"Not an actual trial, no." Jacob corrected. "But, they did mention that they were going to being keeping an eye on her."

"They can't do that!" My mother protested. "They'll never stop watching her. Just like I'm pretty sure that they are still 'keeping an eye' on me."

My father didn't answer.

"They are, aren't they?" Nessie screeched. My parents never yelled, especially not at each other, but my mother was yelling now. "Jacob, I'm sick of having to tiptoe around and pretend that I'm not who I am. I don't want that for our daughter. Mary deserves to be able to live her life with her imprint."

"I tried talking to them, but they have the power in the tribe." Jacob tried to reason, but my mother wasn't finished.

"You are the _Alpha_, Jake. _You_ are in charge of the Pack...that should count more than three grumpy old men holding on to old prejudices." Nessie huffed.

"You're right. I'm sick of having my family pushed around. It is my birthright to lead this tribe." Jacob seemed more confident the more he spoke. "It's about time that I start doing that. I don't know why I didn't think about this sooner."

That was how the next morning we all ended up standing in front of the Council. I put on my best blouse and navy blue skirt when I woke up this morning. Then I felt stupid and changed. By the time that my father said it was time to go, I was wearing jeans, a Dr. Who t-shirt, and tennis shoes (the same thing I would have worn to school if I hadn't been skipping). I felt ridiculous that I felt like I had to dress up for them, but as soon as we were standing in front of the three men who could control my future on tribe soil.

Quil Ateara III (known as "Old Quil"), John Abbott, and Makanin Smith ran the Council. Old Quil was nearly ninety, Makanin was in his sixties, and John was in his late-forties. They had reigned for as long as my father had been phasing. Well, Old Quil had been. John took over when he stopped phasing.

Billy used to be on the Council but then he got in the accident and couldn't take the pressure of raising my father and the twins by himself without Sarah, so he resigned. Harry Clearwater took his place, since he also had a distinct bloodline that foreshadowed a phasing wolf (two once Seth and Leah both phased). When he died, his wife Sue took over until she married Charlie Swan. That was when Makanin got the spot. None of his children have yet to phase, but his great-grandfather did and that's why he's allowed on the Council of Elders.

"You wished to speak with us?" Old Quil asked, looking us each over before settling on my father.

"I demand that you stop monitoring Mary and Nessie. They have done nothing wrong and should be treated as such." My father sounded eloquent as he addressed the Council. "Rebecca, also, should be allowed freedom on tribal land again. She was falsely accused, as well."

"You know that that's not how the Council works. We look out for the interests of the entire tribe, not just your feelings." John sneered. He reminded me so much of his daughter Gretchen in that moment. I always thought that Greg was the one that looked more like their father, but I now knew it was not the case.

"This isn't about my feelings." Jacob protested.

"Is it not?" John questioned smugly. "Your sister, your imprint, your daughter...it seems like you are making rather personal demands for someone who does not have the power of the Council on his side."

There was a pause as the Council seemed to be gloating. Great. Now what were we going to do?

"My child phases and, therefore, I have passed down the werewolf gene." My father stated rather randomly. I could tell that I wasn't the only one who was confused with where he was going with this.

"What are you getting at, Jacob?" Old Quil asked, letting out a huff.

"I am fit to take over as part of the Council." Jacob demanded, seeing that our conversation was going nowhere.

"A reigning Alpha has never been a part of the Council. It's unheard of!" John said in disbelief.

"Maybe it's about time that one is." My father said, earning himself a triumphant smile from his imprint. "Or maybe I'll just let Sammy or Mary take over. They are the rightful heirs."

"You can't be serious, Jacob." Makanin argued. "Sammy isn't ready to take over and there is no way that the girl will be in charge of the Pack. Besides, I know you wouldn't give up all that power just to sit up here with us."

"Wanna bet?" My father seemed almost cocky, but I knew what he was getting at.

"We won't allow it." John said with as much authority as he could muster when the Alpha was making fun of them.

"Who's going to stop me? You?" Jacob let out a bellowing laugh. "As long as I keep phasing, I will outlive you all by a long shot. My imprint is immortal. I never have to stop phasing. I can wait and take over the Council all by myself."

John's mouth dropped open, Makanin gasped, and Old Quil huffed.

"I think it's time that you all stepped down." Jacob continued. "I am sick and tired of you harassing my family, who are destined to be here, because you are afraid of change. Furthermore, I am fed up with the lies that you continue to feed your children and the others. The Pack is about protecting the tribe from those that would hurt us, NOT about creating monsters out of innocent people."

"But your daughter..." John tried to make another case.

"Is my daughter." Dad growled. "She is half me. Unless you are saying that she can not control herself, which she has proven that she can over and over again, then I suggest you shut up. I love my tribe and my people, but I also love my family. And until Mary does something to lose that trust that I have placed in her, I will not make her take a step off of this land. She belongs here just as much as I do."

"You would really make me leave the Reservation?" I asked my father, not meaning to interrupt his speech but needing to know if he would honestly betray me.

"We all would." Jacob admitted, looking first at me and then my mother. "Because we are a family and that means we stick together."

"You can't honestly expect us to step down, Jacob. Even you aren't that daft." Makanin argued.

"Besides, you can't expect to take over all by yourself. There have to be three Councilmen. Tribal legend declares that. Even you can't argue about our history." Old Quil stated, looking smug again.

My father seemed just as prepared, though. "Sam has two phasing sons already and knows what it means to lead the Pack, he is more than able to join my new Council if I asked him. Any of my former Pack would be just as willing: Quil, Seth, Embry, Leah, Paul, Jared...well, maybe not Jared. But still, I can fit this Council with more than just the three of you."

"And what makes you think that we will go willingly?" John asked with raised eyebrows.

Jacob grinned. "Oh, I don't need you to go willingly. If you don't step down now, I will wait you out. All the while, undermining every command that you try to implement in the tribe. And I have the one thing on my side that you never will...the Pack's loyalty. Nothing you do will matter. You will become a joke in this tribe for your lack of real authority. I will make sure that your children and your children's children know exactly what you have done in the name of this tribe. All of the secrets that you have kept from them, from all of the tribe. Oh, yes, I should have thought of this a long time ago. The things that I know that you have all done...why, it would be enough to "

They were once again speechless.

"I...I would like to formally resign from the Council of Elders effective immediately." Makanin's voice shook, but my father stood up taller at the old man's confession.

"You can't be serious, Makanin!" Old Quil huffed.

"I only have daughters and they have no sons. No heir of mine will ever phase in my lifetime. I would rather have my girls remember me with honor than disgrace." Makanin explained. "I'm sorry." And then he left.

"What say you two, then?" My father asked. "Because I am perfectly happy letting you pretend you're in charge for a little while longer while I lead both the Pack and the Council."

"My son is dead because of you." John sneered. "I won't let you take this from me, too."

"What about the rest of your family?" Nessie asked, speaking up for the first time this entire meeting.

"My daughter hates everything that you stand for and I'm proud of that!" John admitted.

"And Caroline?" Nessie asked, bringing up his wife. "Being wolf-wives, we have talked about a lot of things. I wonder..." She paused. "Hmmm, I wonder if she knows all that you do in the name of the tribe?"

"You will tell her nothing!" John yelled.

"I wouldn't want to hurt you like that, John." My mother spoke reasonably. "But I will do what I have to in order to protect my family. You can push me around, but you can NOT do the same to my daughter."

"She would hate me. My wonderful Caroline, she would hate me." John looked scared. I almost felt bad for the man until I remembered everything that he had been a part of.

"The choice is yours." My father said diplomatically.

"I formally resign from the Council of Elders effective immediately." John seemed defeated when he said it. "But you must promise to never tell my wife..."

"You have my word." Jacob said in his Alpha voice, not meaning to have so much effect on his former Packmate as John bowed his head automatically as he left.

"You know that won't work on me, Jacob." Old Quil huffed. "I was never in the Pack."

"You're right. You weren't." My father said slowly. "You have no idea how hard it was to go through that first phase or how hard it was to watch a Packmate die and be helpless to stop it...you don't know anything about being a wolf. You have no idea what it really means to be a part of this tribe. Your grandson does, though. He understands."

"So, what? You gonna turn my grandson against me?" Old Quil huffed again.

"No." Jacob said clearly. "I just want you to see how much this new generation understands our legends more than you ever could. They've phased and fought and lived and really felt the legends up close and personal. It's time for the Council of the Elders to become a thing of the past and the Council of the Now to rise up." Dad paused to let it sink in. "Don't you see, Quil? This is our time. You've had yours. Let your grandson have his chance."

"My grandson could be a part of this new Council? You could promise that?" Old Quil huffed into his hankerchiff. Only now did I realize that he wasn't huffing, but had been coughing and gasping for breath all this time. Dad really could wait him out. That thought made me sad.

"I will speak with him this afternoon if you decide to let this old Council of prejudices and manipulation end." Jacob reasoned.

"I guess I don't really have much of a choice in the matter, then. I formally resign from the Council of Elders." Old Quil said. "For my grandson to take my place. I would like to see him fulfilling his family duties before I pass on. It seems like a fair enough trade."

Old Quil turned to leave. "But I still don't trust your girls." He warned, looking at me and my mother spitefully.

"Wow." Nessie said once Old Quil was gone. "I didn't think that that would actually work. They all resigned? I can't believe it, Jacob."

My father looked weary, but he smiled at his imprint. "I'm sorry that it had to come to that."

"I'm not." I spoke up, and both my parents looked at me.

"Why not, Mary?" Dad asked, looking genuinely concerned.

I spoke up quietly. "Because, for the first time since we arrived in La Push...I feel safe."

My mother smiled knowingly, wrapping her arms around me in a hug. "I feel it, too." She whispered in my ear even though Daddy could probably hear us.

"I'm sorry that I didn't do this long ago." My father said angrily. "I never wanted you girls to feel this way for even a moment."

It wasn't his fault, but it still hurt that he didn't know how much pain I had been in. How much Momma had been in for a long time, keeping it a secret so as not to upset her imprinter.

"I love you, Daddy," was all that I could say as I wrapped my other arm around him, squishing us all together. Together. We were together and always would be. That's all that mattered now.

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><p><strong>AN: I started another NessieJake story some of you might be interested in: "A Hundred Years." I will still make this story my priority, though, since I'm more invested in it. **


	40. Finally A Home

It didn't take long for news of what happened at my "trial" to spread around the tribe.

It took even less time for Jacob to create the New Council that would replace Old Quil, John Abbott, and Makanin Smith once they resigned.

Three former wolves (Quil Ateara, Sam Uley, and Jared Dunlap) made up the New Council, along with my father. Embry, Leah, and Seth were offered positions as well, but since they are still phasing, they decided to let those who wouldn't be around for as long have their shot. Besides, Embry had his hands full with being a teacher at La Push High, Seth was busy with his imprint, and Leah was busy avoiding Embry at all costs. Jacob thought that it should be an established law that the Alpha be a part of the Council. It was the best way to keep the Council honest, he said.

There were a few members of the tribe that had a problem with this. Mrs. Abbott, for one. She yelled at my father for taking everything from her: first her son and now her husband's job. But she didn't win, of course. My father held strong that it was for the best that John was off the Council and that Greg hadn't died because of our family. In the end, the Abbott's packed up and moved off the Reservation. Gretchen couldn't stand to look at me, blaming me for her brother's death, and between her and her mother, they managed to convince John that their family was better off somewhere with less bad memories.

It was weird going to school without Gretchen, but I can't say that it was worse. Without her, Tanner shut up real quick. That, and double patrols once my father found out that Tanner had been harassing me about leaving town. I had tried to keep that a secret but my imprint was furious at his little brother for making me feel bad and ratted Tanner out to Daddy.

I kind of felt bad for Tanner because he was just angry that his brother had imprinted on me. I understood his anger. I wasn't exactly the best match for the next Alpha. I didn't understand imprinting. I know that the magic is supposed to bring a wolf his soul mate. But it didn't exactly make sense for creating stronger wolves. My dad imprinted on my mother and got me. I wasn't a wolf. And if, and that's a BIG IF, I had a child with Sammy, there was a slim chance that any kid of ours would be a wolf. It would probably be some vampire hybrid like I was. I could understand why Tanner was angry that his brother wouldn't be having a normal child. Sammy and I were the only ones from this new generation to imprint. It didn't feel right, even I could admit that. But I didn't know the big picture. Maybe we were supposed to imprint so that the Pack could be fully united, not so that we could produce stronger wolves.

But I'm letting my mind get away from me. Sammy and I had one kiss. We were hardly ready for marriage or children. I wasn't even sure that Sammy actually wanted that. Or that I could have children at all. I was one percent vampire now. The older I got, the less of a chance that I would have for this future that I desperately wanted. Maybe it was better that Sammy and I just remained friends, after all.

There was something else that changed when the Council of Elders was dismantled...Aunt Rebecca came home.

Dad and Aunt Rachel actually fought over who was going to host her, but in the end she stayed in her old bedroom in Billy's house. I think seeing her siblings with their perfect mates and perfect children was hard for her. She didn't say that, though. "I don't want to be a burden to your families,' is what she said.

Rebecca and Rachel might be twins, but I could see the differences in them right away. Rebecca knew pain and betrayal like her twin never would...and it showed on her face. Her eyes were sad.

From what I could tell, Rachel had it easy. She went to college and came right back to La Push, got imprinted on, and gave up on her career as a high paid photo journalist in New York City to become a freelance photographer for the Forks newspaper. Her three kids were perfect: Robin was getting ready to head off to college, Peter managed to balance being a wolf and getting good grades, and Sara was the most popular girl in the fourth grade. Paul loved Rachel more than anyone (other than other imprinted couples) could love another human being. He would literally take a bullet for her and gave up the Pack business so that they could grow old together. Rachel had a fairy tale life compared to Rebecca's.

Rebecca left home early, as soon as she was eighteen, and married the first guy who told her that he loved her. He was a surfer so she didn't think it was weird when he was gone for entire weekends for competitions. Becks was the perfect wife, though they never had children, and she didn't mind since she thought that he couldn't have kids. The truth was, he couldn't have them with her. When Rebecca found out about the six year old that her husband had with another woman, she moved out. She didn't focus on herself until their divorce a year and a half ago when she decided to go back to school and then her essay was accidently sold as a novel idea. And then, she wasn't allowed to come back home even though she desperately needed her family.

"I'm so sorry that I let that happen." Jacob admitted the first night that we went over to visit her. "If I had known that I could stop it, you have to believe that I would have done this sooner. I never meant to hurt you, Becks."

"Can we just not talk about it?" Rebecca seemed distant from him and I couldn't tell if that was his doing or hers. She had spent her entire life running from

"What do you want to talk about?" Jacob asked, letting the subject drop.

"How about the little girl sitting with your still beautiful young wife?" Rebecca prompted and I tried not to blush.

"I'm your niece, Mary." I spoke up, not sure what she was expecting.

"I know _who_ you are, sweetie. I was just curious as to _what_ you are." I knew she didn't mean to insult me, even though it felt that way.

"You are on a need to know basis, Becks." My father tried to tell her, but she wasn't having it.

"If you won't tell me the truth then I might as well just leave!" She was throwing a fit, even though she was almost forty, and I wished that I had gotten to see her as a teenager. "All of my life, I knew that something was different about this tribe. I could feel it! But no one would ever tell me. It took leaving this godforsaken place and doing research of my own before I started to believe that our legends might not just be bedtime stories like we thought they were when we were kids. And when I came back for your wedding and saw your bride's family, that's when I knew the truth about the Cold Ones, too. I couldn't stick around for that. I'm sorry, but I couldn't. I wasn't ready to hear the truth about what my baby brother might be..."

"And now? You think you're ready?" My father growled, catching my aunt off guard.

Rebecca nodded her head slowly, too stunned for words.

"Jacob, you don't have to do this..." Grandpa Billy looked torn.

"No, I think I do. Don't I, sis?" Jacob growled, kicking off his shoes so as not to ruin them when he phased. "You wanted to know the truth about what being a part of this family means...might as well enjoy the show."

"Jacob, don't be ridiculous. There's not enough room in here." My mother tried to protest.

"Then move the couch." My father didn't take his eyes off of his sister as he slipped his shirt off. Momma and I moved the furniture easily, and made sure that Billy's wheelchair was out of the way for my father to phase. "You wanted to see exactly what I was, didn't you?"

My father shredded his jeans when he burst out of his skin and landed on all fours, his snout a foot away from Aunt Rebecca.

"No turning back now." Billy whispered. "I tried to protect you children from the truth because I knew that you couldn't handle it."

My mother went into the other room to grab an old pair of sweatpants from my father's childhood bedroom. They wouldn't fit him quite right since they were from his early phasing days, but there was no way that he was going to stay in wolf form. He had too much to say, I could tell just by the look in his eyes that he wasn't done with Aunt Rebecca yet.

"But Rachel knows, doesn't she?" Rebecca asked, shaking her head as she stared at the wolf in the living room. "Everyone on this entire Reservation seems to know, except me."

"A lot has changed since you left..." Billy admitted. "Whenever a wolf imprints or has a child, they are informed of the myths as realities. It is the only way to prepare them for what could happen. It was the only smart thing to do after what happened with the Leah/Sam/Emily thing."

"So it's not just Jake?" Rebecca's eyes widened.

"The Pack has dwindled since most of the wolves that you went to school with have stopped phasing." Billy spoke for my father.

"But who were they?" Becks demanded. "How many of them were there?"

"Sam Uley, Paul Greene, Quil Ateara, Jared Dunlap, and John Abbott have all stopped phasing." Billy said.

"Rachel's husband...? Oh, god." Rebecca's skin paled. "Tell me the rest. I know you are keeping something from me, Dad."

"There are eight now." My mother spoke up as she entered the living room carrying a pair of sweatpants for my father. He nodded his thanks and took them in his teeth. With one more look at his sister, he leaped out the front door which had been widened for the wheelchair and was the perfect size for a wolf to get through. "Two of Sam's sons, Jared's boy, your nephew Peter, Seth and Leah Clearwater, Embry Call, and your brother still phase."

"Who else?" Rebecca asked in a shakey voice. She looked at me, but I shook my head.

"I'm like my mother." I admitted, hoping that she wouldn't want me to show her just what I could do.

"But your eyes aren't gold." Becks looked confused. "Her family's were. The real Cold Ones. So what does that make the two of you?"

"I'm a half-vampire." Nessie admitted proudly. "And Mary is a phasing vampire. She is human until she phases like you just saw Jake do. Neither of us is dangerous to you or to anyone else." I was glad that my father was outside for this part. He was always so territorial of me and Momma.

"Cold Ones can't have children. My research told me that." Rebecca seemed so sure.

"You'd better check your facts. But you always did have such crazy ideas." My mother smiled. "You always were my favorite, you know."

"Me?" This seemed to confuse Rebecca.

"My entire life, I have never met anyone like you, Rebecca. Not even your twin, who was always kind to me because of our connection with Jake. In my family, I was treated as a precious marvel and with the tribe, I was treated like the reason there was tension. My very existence didn't make sense to them." Momma continued. "But then at the wedding, you show up with your big opinions and your stories of the world outside of these two little towns and you didn't judge me other than if I was good enough for your brother. You were the first person that I had ever met who didn't instantly judge me because of my geniology, because you didn't know it. My father told me that your thoughts were wary of my family, but not of me. You liked me. And that instantly made you my very favorite. You spoke your mind even though it made people uncomfortable and I like to think that Mary takes after you. She, like you, has seen pain but has chosen to make herself better because of it. She fought to stay here, even though you tried so hard to flee. But this is where both of you belong. And I won't have you leaving again, Rebecca. You mean too much to my husband."

"You really think that I belong here?" Rebecca looked like such a little girl. "Even after accidently outing the entire tribe in my book?"

"There have always been stories about us out there." Jacob said as he entered the living room again, wearing the sweatpants that we definitely from a different time in his life. "What's one more?"

"I've missed you, baby brother. I'm sorry I ever doubted you." Rebecca broke down and cried right there in front of everyone. "I can't do this on my own anymore. I need my family. I thought I was always the independent one, but I don't think that's true. I was scared of what I knew, or thought I knew, and I just couldn't face anyone."

"Shhh. It's okay." My father put his arms around his sister and let her cry into his bare chest. "None of that matters now. You're home."


	41. Imprints In Sync

**Have a Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow, my lovely readers! :) I figured I'd give you a treat before the holiday, so enjoy!**

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><p>"How are you liking having your aunt back?" Sammy asked me after school one day. He seemed to be avoiding me until now and it shocked me that he acted like nothing had happened.<p>

"I love Becks. She's fantastic." I admitted.

Momma had been right. Aunt Rebecca was a free spirit, just like me. She had seen a lot in her lifetime, just like I had, and she knew what rejection felt like, and she was so curious about learning about the Pack and her heritage just like I had wanted to know this side of my family. Rebecca, Robin, and I were all much more alike than we ever could have imagined. While I was like Rebecca in that I wanted to be a part of this family, Robin was like her in that they both knew that they had to get out of this town after graduation.

I answered any question she had and she told me stories about what it was like to live in Hawaii. She left out parts with her ex-husband, but that was fine with me. The only thing that Rebecca couldn't understand was imprinting. I explained it to her over and over again, telling her all of the stories of the wolves that imprinted and how their lives changed because of it. Robin had heard her parents' story as many times as I had heard my parents' but it still confused Rebecca. I think it had more to do with the fact that she didn't understand how people could be faithful when her husband wasn't more than it was about not getting the 'wolf protector' aspect.

"Good, that's good." Sammy said, but it sounded like he was just saying that.

"What's wrong?" I asked, feeling the unease that my imprint felt.

"I, uh, nothing is wrong, Mary." Sammy's cheeks reddened. "It's just that Valentine's Day is coming up and I was, uh, I just wanted to know if you had any plans, you know, for it. I mean, it's okay if you're busy, I, uh, just wanted to know..."

"Sammy Uley, are you asking me to be your Valentine?" I giggled as his face turned tomato red. Which is hard for a wolf with dark complexion to do.

"No!" Sammy blurted out. "I mean, yes! I mean, I wanted to ask you out on a date. I just, uh, figured that Valentine's Day would be, um, romantic."

"This doesn't have anything to do about my freakout a couple weeks ago, does it?" I asked, secretly hoping that he had forgotten when I cried to his wolf form and blamed him for my inevitable inability to have children.

"Of course not." Sammy looked me dead in the eyes. "This isn't a pity ask-out, Mary. I've been trying to get up the courage to ask you for over a month now. Ever since I followed you to Paris, I knew that we couldn't stay friends any longer. Not like that. Not when I felt so strongly for you."

"You feel strongly for me?" I asked, sucking in a breath.

"Mary, Mary, Mary..." Sammy breathed, taking a step closer to me so that we were inches apart. "How could I not?"

"Pick me up at six." I said, moving swiftly as I kissed his lips lightly and then took off towards where I knew my mom was waiting in the treeline.

I turned back to see the stunned look on his face, but then kept going.

"What was that?" Momma asked, a smile on her lips.

"Sammy asked me out on a date. A Valentine's Date." I whispered happily, thinking of my second kiss with my imprint and how my lips were still tingling from the heat of his.

"You know what that means..." Momma teased.

"We'll have to tell Daddy?" I asked, dreading the thought.

"Even worse." She laughed. "We'll have to call your Aunt Alice."

I gulped, dreading that even worse. I loved my mother's aunts, but sometimes they took my human experiences as an excuse to play dress-up with me. My mother had had the same fate, but since her childhood was so short, each big event in her life had less space between it than mine did. Momma didn't have to dread her events.

Even though Daddy was now in charge, he didn't want to push it by allowing the Cullen vampires free reign of the land. The treaty remained intact even though I'm pretty sure my mother would have liked her family to be allowed to visit her at her own home. But we all understood that it was to protect the tribe.

I spent most of my days after school at the Cullen Mansion with my aunts. Rosalie and Alice must have chosen a dozen dresses for me to try on but Daddy vetoed most of them on the amount of cleavage that they would show. I didn't have much. But as far as fourteen year olds went, I was well supplied.

Momma was the one who ended up finding me the perfect dress. It had been one of hers when she was younger, though it had only been worn once. On a date with my father. It was red, went to my knees, and had ruffles on the shoulders. Bella kept significant items of clothing that belonged to her daughter at the cottage away from Alice so that they could go down memory lane together sometimes.

"You look so grown up, Mary." My father choked out. "I don't think I like this."

The entire room laughed at that.

"No parent ever is." Bella admitted. "Be thankful that you had longer than seven years. Mary has given you fourteen years of a wonderful childhood. It's time to let her grow up a little bit, Jake."

"She definitely is your daughter, Ness." Edward smiled at me, thinking of when his daughter had worn the same dress.

"I think she looks more like Jake." Momma replied, a smile on her lips as well.

"Can I look in the mirror now?" I asked, trying not to blush as they continued to talk about me.

"Not until you can get the full effect." Alice chided. "Rose, did you find those shoes I was talking about?" She spoke at the same volume, but in the direction of upstairs.

A blur down the stairs and suddenly Rosalie was standing in front of me with a pair of silver heels.

"Heels?" Momma asked, "I don't think she's quite ready those..."

"She's a young woman, Nessie. Besides, since you lot decided that we couldn't buy her anything spectacular, I decided that we might as well keep the theme alive and well." Alice said. "I wore these with Jasper last week when we visited a fashion show in Madrid. On a date."

Rosalie handed Alice another silver trinket to put on me. "This bracelet belonged to Esme as a gift from Carlisle but she gave it to me to wear for one of my outings with Emmett. This is a double date item."

I made sure that Alice placed it on my wrist that didn't have my charm bracelet on it.

"I suppose it's my turn, then." Bella spoke up, startling my fashionistas.

"We weren't sure that you would want to participate." Rosalie said, but it was a surprised smile on her face.

"My only granddaughter will only ever have one first date." Bella said it like I was signing my life away to Sammy, not just going out with him. "I'll be right back." She was a blur and returned twenty seconds later with a silver clutch. "I took this to prom, on a date with Edward."

I transferred my lip gloss and cell phone into the clutch, along with a couple of twenties. "Can I look now?" I asked.

"Go ahead, honey." Alice let out a bell-like laugh.

I turned, facing the mirror, and let out a little gasp. Rose had applied a little mascara and some neutral eye shadow, but it made my brown eyes pop. My long curly black ringlets had been straightened except for a few along the top and it reached my waist where it had been flat ironed. The dress which looked gorgeous on the hanger was even more extravagant on me. It clung to my curves without making me feel like I was exposed anywhere. The color red made my pale dark skin look exotic instead of weird like I usually thought it did. I looked both mature and like the little girl that I really was.

Sammy was fifteen minutes early to pick me up. He nervously waited outside until exactly six o'clock before he rang the bell, though, and then was forced to wait in the living room while I finished getting ready. I tried to rush, but Rose had more hairspray to apply and Alice had to get me in my heels.

When I walked out of the bedroom, my eyes were drawn to him. He looked handsome in his black suit, silver shirt, and red tie. I think that Aunt Alice supplied his wardrobe because not only did it look brand new, it also matched my outfit perfectly.

"You look beautiful, Mary." Sammy blushed when he spotted me.

"Thank you, Sammy." I blushed back. "You clean up pretty nice yourself."

"It, um, I found this with a note saying to wear it." Sammy admitted. "It was a relief now that I see how dressed up you are."

"Oh, Alice." I looked at my aunt but she just smirked.

"Step closer to her, Sammy, so we can get a couple of pictures." Momma suggested and every member of my family pulled out a camera. I was going to kill them. This wasn't even a prom or anything. I was just going on a date. Nothing was going to change yet they acted like this was the single most important moment in my life.

"Not too close." Jacob warned and Sammy backed up an inch.

Never was I more glad for the heels. I was eye level with my imprint for once. He put his arm around my waist as we posed for pictures and I wondered if everyone could hear my heart beating as loudly as I thought they could. Finally, I pulled away.

"That's enough pictures. We're going to be late for dinner." I said, pulling my imprint towards the door.

"I'll send a few of these to your mother." My mom suggested, looking at Sammy. "I'm sure she'd appreciate it."

"Thank you, ma'am." Sammy said, and I just rolled my eyes. He was always so polite to everyone. But especially to my parents.

Sammy was out the door and nearly to his mom's minivan before he seemed to realize that it was a minivan.

"I'm sorry about the van. I didn't have anything else that I could borrow." Sammy rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He didn't realize that the reason I had been staring at him in front of the van was because I was imagining it full of our children. But I shook that thought out of my mind. I didn't need children as long as I had Sammy.

"Sammy Uley, you worry too much." I teased him as he opened the passenger side door for me. I had to hold on to one of his hands and the headrest in order to get into the van in my heels, but having his hand in mine was enough to make it worth it for my embarrassment.

Even though it was a school night, I was allowed to go with him to the only fancy restaurant in Forks. I think it was because it was my first date and the holiday fell on a Thursday. When we got to the restaurant, Sammy gave the waitress his last name and I tried to ignore the look that she gave us when she took in our ages. I could tell that she had been expecting a much older couple.

There was a really pretty red rose on the table next to the place card that said "RESERVED FOR ULEY". I didn't even mind that it was fake because I didn't expect Sammy to spend a bunch of money on me. Besides, this dinner was going to be enough. Tucked under the flower was a homemade card. I reached for it as soon as Sammy pushed in my chair and sat across from me, trying to ignore that his eyes were on me as I read it.

_"I will love you until this flower dies. Forever yours, Sammy."_ The card read. A charm for my bracelet was attached to the card so that it wouldn't have gotten lost. It was a small red rose with today's date inscribed on the back of it.

I put it down. My head was spinning. This was all too much for him to promise me. Sammy was sixteen. Did he really know what he wanted in life right now? I wasn't going to grow old once I stopped my Transformation. We literally would have forever.

"Forever?" I asked, looking him in the eyes now. "You really would spend forever with me?"

"Mary Black, you are the only one that I would even consider having at my side for eternity." Sammy said with such honesty that I was glad the waitress was back to take our drink orders and give us menus. She left us alone after a minute and we sat in silence until I finally spoke up.

"And the other part...did you mean that?" I asked, trying to look like I was interested in the menu. He turned my face towards me with his hand under my chin and I had to force myself not to blush.

"Mary Elizabeth Black, I love you with everything that is in me." Sammy declared with a goofy grin on his face. "I don't want you to feel like you have to say it back or anything. I just want you to know. I love you, Mary, and I plan to marry you when we're old enough and I'm tired of trying to ignore the fact that that's what we were always meant to be...you might be my best friend now, but that won't ever change."

"Nothing would make me happier, Sammy." I did blush now. "Because I love you, too. So very much that sometimes it hurts. Not just being away from you. But being near you and not saying those words to you. I was afraid that you would think I was being childish or something if I said it now. But I do, Sammy, I love you. I cannot wait until the day that I become your wife."

The biggest smile I had ever seen spread across my imprint's face. He leaned over the table, capturing my lips with his, but this time there was no running or fear or rejection. There was just him and me, like it was always meant to be. We didn't come up for air until the waitress came back with our drinks, but that was fine with me. I had my imprint and he loved me. I didn't care what anyone else thought about me anymore...and for the first time, I truly meant it.

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><p><strong>AN: FYI, I'm going to be jumping a little bit of time in the next chapter now that Sammy and Mary have been sorted out and the Council isn't a threat. I figured you all were dying to know about Mary's condition more than you wanted me to spend ten chapters of mushy-lovey-doveyness with the couple. <strong>


	42. Sammy's POV: Three Years Later

**AN: This is where the time jump happens, guys, so don't panic! I love hearing your feedback, so keep it coming ;)**

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><p>Life with Mary as my girlfriend has been marvelous, spectacular, better than anything that I've ever experienced in my entire life. These past three years have been like nothing I've ever known, because every day was different. That was because Mary was Changing.<p>

We realized that it wasn't a timed thing that was making her Transform, but that when Alec controlled her, he kick started her Transformation that was supposed to happen in one go when she was fully mature. Instead, whenever she gets really stressed out, she passes out and her body becomes a little bit more vampire. Carlisle's theory of her aging every week proved incorrect after three years of tests, thank goodness, but that didn't mean that Mary was the same as she was back then. The half percent part was true, though.

At seventeen, Mary looked like she was twenty and was twenty-five and a half percent vampire. Carlisle predicts that she will be physically twenty-five when she stops. But, then again, he has been wrong before. I'm just glad that the four year limit wasn't an actual deadline. We're not even sure if she will end up being fully vampire anymore. All we can do is wait it out. It's less scary now that we know how to prolong her Transformations (by not phasing and keeping calm), but it's still difficult completely to stop. One little argument with a wolf or with her parents and she's set off enough to phase. Which adds another half percent of vampire DNA. No one can really explain why this happened the way that it was, but that's how it happened.

Mary's slow Transformation wasn't the only thing that changed, though.

Over the past three years, the Council has grown stronger. My father, Quil, Jared, and Jacob still run it, but they have made changes that will effect the Pack and the tribe for as long as I'm alive (which will be awhile as long as Mary is around). Like, the law that establishes that as long as there is a phasing Alpha, he or she (Jacob made sure to add that part in for the sexists who might not accept his daughter as an Alpha, should she choose to take over for Jake when he decides he's reigned long enough), must be a part of the Council.

The Cullens, after much debate, are allowed to visit Nessie on tribal land as long as Jacob or another wolf is warned beforehand. Though they rarely come visit, the Cullens have appreciated this gesture so much. They even donated money for making the high school more tech-savvy and giving the middle school play equipment. Some of the tribe members thought this was a bribe, but they are greatful for their childrens' sake regardless.

The Abbotts didn't agree with most of the new laws and left the Reservation. It saddened me to see Gretchen go, but after what she said to my imprint, I really found it best that they left anyways.

Tanner has since straightened up. That probably has more to do with the fact that he imprinted on baby Blaire Ateara. Now almost three, Claire and Quil's third child is quite a handful, but my brother loves her like he never loved our actual little sisters. I'm happy for him, really I am, I just wish that he hadn't of hurt my imprint's feelings when he didn't understand what was going on because of my devotion to Mary. Now that he understands the pull, he hasn't said another word about it.

Peter stared dating Diana during his junior year and they've been steady ever since. It isn't imprinting, but it is love and I couldn't be happier for the couple.

JJ is still waiting on his imprint or soul mate to show up. If truth be told, I think that JJ is waiting on a different kind of partner, but he won't admit that. Even still, I think the perfect person is out there somewhere looking for him, too. He's only seventeen, no need for him to rush anyways.

True love takes time and patience...and that's something that Embry knows more than anyone. When Rebecca Black showed back up into our lives, Leah was sure that her semi-boyfriend would imprint on Becks and leave her for good, just like my father did whenever a former tribe member showed up. It was actually a common assumption around the Packmind. Rebecca had left before most of the first batch of wolves had started phasing and since both of her other siblings were imprinted on/imprinted, it made sense that the Alpha's other sister would share the same fate. A great batch of pups could be formed from Embry and Rebecca. Especially since they had been friends in high school and Embry had had a little crush on the older girl. It had to be fate, we all thought.

Embry stayed away from Rebecca for as long as he could, avoiding her like the plague, because he was committed to loving Leah for the rest of his life. This went on for five months. Finally, Leah had enough of wondering. She threatened to never speak to him again if he didn't go look Becks straight in the eye that instant.

So, he did. He looked Rebecca right in the eye and the entire world knew that he was truly in love.

They were married last spring. Embry and Leah, I mean. When Embry didn't imprint on Rebecca, Leah finally let her guard down. Embry loved her enough to avoid the woman he thought he might imprint on for_ months_, even though she continued to reject him. "Til we imprint or die." Leah jokingly put in her vows; Embry said "Even if I imprint, I'm yours until death." Let's just say that Leah wasn't the only one who cried at their wedding. The big news, though is that Leah stopped phasing long enough to get pregnant, the ultrasound shows a girl, and the couple is ecstatic. Leah wants to keep phasing once the baby is out, though. That's fine by me. Leah and Embry, Jacob for Nessie, me for Mary, Seth for Maitlin: all of us will never die of old age because of our partners, keeping the Pack strong even if we have to watch our family members die.

Robin came back from college a changed woman. At twenty-one, she graduated early with a Bachelor's in creative journalism. She realized that although she wanted to get as far away from La Push as she could because of all of the stereotypes and lies, when she returned, most of that had changed. With the help of Rebecca, the two publish a weekly newspaper about the tribe. For the first time, La Push has it's very own news source. La Push Press covers local stories as well as global issues that living in such a small town cut off from the world, we might not have known about. They really do a wonderful job at it and though neither of them has found a husband yet, I think that's okay with them. After Becks' divorce, she swore off men and Robin says that she doesn't need a man at her side to be able to accomplish greatness. I respect them for it, though I know that they both wish secretly that they had been imprinted on. Because that kind of love is worth the pain of putting yourself out there.

Speaking of pain of putting yourself out there...I was trying to get up the nerve to propose to Mary. The problem was Jacob kept getting in my head. Literally. Every time we were phased together, he would see my intentions and show me pictures of Mary when she was just a child, which was exactly how he saw her now. It was true, as much as I hated to admit it. Mary was seventeen and finishing up her final year in high school. I knew that I couldn't take that away from her no matter how much I wanted to be her husband. We had forever, me and her; I couldn't take away her last years as a mostly human.

Unfortunately, Mary found out about this from her cousin Peter when he ran patrol with us one night and then she was furious with both of us.

"How _dare_ you two decide what is best for me!" She screamed.

"Careful, sweetie. Your eyes." I warned, only realizing it was a bad idea to tell her what to do once it had already been done.

"You might be my imprint but that does _not_ mean that I have to take orders from you, Sammy Uley!" Mary yelled, her fists starting to shake and her eyes shifting from her gorgeous deep brown to her radiant crimson color.

Make that twenty-six percent vampire.

"Mary, I love you, you know that. I will love you until the day that we die. But I think that you will look back and regret that you didn't finish out the rest of your human experiences while you had the chance. Not just high school, but the time that you have with all of your friends before you're forever a married woman. I would propose to you right now and marry you on the spot because I love you so much." I smiled at her, just thinking about that day when we really were married. "But I'm not that selfish. I want my proposal to be as special as you are and for you to have enough time to experience your life without me constantly by your side first."

"What if I wanna be selfish?" Mary asked and I tried not to grin back at her with her father watching. He had made it pretty specific. Mary had to finish high school first. By that time, she would be as much of an adult as she was ever going to be and would be free to make her own choices.

"Mary, you're going to get me killed." I said, only half joking, looking nervously at Jacob but he smiled.

"When you've graduated, I would gladly give my blessing." The Alpha promised, earning himself a hug from his daughter.

She calmed down enough to phase back then and I walked her to the high school where JJ, Diana, her cousin Sara, and my sister Emmie were waiting. It was weird that the high school was so small since my graduation last year, but until more people moved in, it was basically just former wolves' kids since a lot of the tribe had moved off over the years: those that didn't believe and those that knew too much to handle. My mother's family did long ago, but I had a feeling the Makah tribe will start migrating back.

"You do know that I graduate in a month, right?" Mary asked me in her not-so-subtle way.

"I know." I grinned. "I want you to be mine as soon as I can."

"You just want to have sex with me." Mary teased and I gaped, not expecting my innocent imprint to say such a thing. We had made out, but that was basically the extent of our physical relationship. Not that I cared about that at all since all I wanted to do was make Mary happy, but just so you know.

"So what if I do?" I teased back when I got my mental skills back. "You, Mary, are ravishing. Who wouldn't want to have their way with you?"

Mary blushed so deeply that I thought that she would turn into a tomato.

"I'll pick you up at three." I said, kissing her forehead and letting the conversation drop.

Since that day at school, Mary hasn't brought up the subject again. Which was fine by me. But I never stopped thinking about the fact that Mary got so angry when she was told that I couldn't marry her until graduation.

So for a month, I plotted and planned the perfect proposal. Finally, oh finally!, that day arrived.

"Today's the big day, huh?" Nessie asked me on the morning of Mary's graduation.

I had come over early to help out with the party decorations since Nessie and Jake wanted to throw the graduation party themselves. That's what I told Mary, anyways. Mary was over at the Cullen house with the rest of her family as they turned her into a dolled up version of herself. They were mainly keeping her away from the Black house while I did what I had to do. Everyone was in on it because I had asked every member of her family to keep this secret from my imprint in order to surprise her.

I nodded. "Thank you for helping me with this. I know that it was supposed to be a party for Mary, but thank you for letting me propose to her tonight."

We stood in the backyard, neither of us saying very much as we set up the gazebo that I had ordered especially for tonight.

"You excited for Mary to be graduated?" I asked as I hung another white paper lantern on the fishing line that was tethered to a tree from the house.

"I am." Nessie said quietly, though with not a lot of conviction.

"What's wrong, ma'am?" I asked, but Mary's mother only smiled sadly.

"Jacob will be home soon from the Council meeting." Nessie tried to brush it off.

"Tell me now if you think this is a bad idea and I won't go through with my plans. We can have the regular graduation party like we told Mary we were having." I swore, looking the woman who gave birth to my imprint in the eye.

"I don't think it's a bad idea..." Nessie bite her bottom lip and continued with her own strand of lanterns.

"You aren't losing her, you know." I tried to reassure her. "Mary will always belong to you and Jacob."

"I never thought that my little girl would get to grow up and find her soul mate." Nessie looked both sad and happy. "And after tonight, she'll be engaged and starting her life without me."

"What's really bothering you?" I asked, sensing that there was more to it. Nessie was almost as easy to read as her mother.

"I'm just sorry that Mary won't get to experience that herself." Nessie sighed. "With a child of her own, I mean."

"We don't know that for sure." I argued. "Carlisle said that there might be a chance to carry a child to term as long as she is only half-vampire, like you were."

We were quiet again since Nessie didn't seem to want to talk about it anymore.

"It's hard letting go of my daughter." Nessie spoke up ten minutes later when the last of the lanterns had been hung. "But I'm glad that you are the one that will be taking care of her."

"If she even says yes." I joked halfheartedly. I knew that Mary wanted to marry me, yet when I said the words aloud, I was suddenly fearful. It was her choice, after all.

"Mary would be a fool not to accept you, Samuel." Nessie smiled warmly at me. "And Momma didn't raise a fool."

"Thank you, Mrs. Black." I said as we headed inside. Mary's graduation was in less than a half hour now.

"You don't always have to be so formal with me, you know." Nessie let out a laugh.

"As my future mother-in-law, I find it only proper." I said honestly. I respected her like I did my own mother.

"Gah, make me feel old, why don't you?" Nessie joked.

"You don't look it." I promised. Though she was only five years older than I was, Nessie looked younger than I did because of my wolf genes. Mary, too, looked older than her mother. The way that Carlisle figured, which is just an estimation because of Mary's uniqueness, is that when (or if) Mary stopped her Transition, she would be physically in her mid-twenties, just like the wolves all looked.

"You left off that she is incredibly beautiful for her age." A booming voice spoke up from the front of the house.

"Hey!" Nessie yelled at her husband as he entered the living room. "I'm only twenty-four, Jake!"

"Then don't complain that you're old." My Alpha teased his wife. "You, my darling, will always look nineteen years old. I don't know why you would ever complain that you feel old."

"When my daughter is graduating high school and getting engaged, I'm allowed to feel old for a little bit." Nessie said.

"Excuse us, Sammy, I'd like to help my imprint feel young again." Jacob not-so-subtly told me to get lost.

I took the hint. "I'll see you guys at the ceremony."

I drove my beat-up pickup truck to the high school. It wasn't much, but it ran and I bought it myself. That was all that mattered. When I got there, I recognized all of the cars in the lot: the Greene's, my parents', the Dunlap's, the Call's, the Ateara's, Seth's, and a few others that belonged to random tribe members who had nothing better to do on a Saturday than watch a high school graduation. The Dunlap's extended relatives from Makah were also in attendance. Pretty much everyone was here, actually. It was strange to think that the tribe had dwendled to so few numbers, but I knew that when we combined our land with the Makah's next spring, our numbers would be back up to where they should be.

What shocked me the most was the fact that the Cullens' vehicles were also there. Even though they had permission to come and go as they pleased, I wasn't expecting them. Usually the wolves were sent as body guards.

"I didn't know you were coming to the graduation." I said when I spotted Edward getting out of his Volvo by himself, the latest model-of course.

"It was kind of the Council to grant us permission for our granddaughter's graduation." The mindreader smiled. "Besides, there is no way that we would miss the 'party' tonight."

"Where is Mary?" I asked, not seeing her face among the Cullens.

"Bella took her inside already. Embry wanted to go over the procedure one more time." Edward replied.

I rolled my eyes. JJ, Diana, and Mary had been over the procedure a million times: they would all get to give a speech (since Mary was Valedictorian and the twins had the same GPA and were joint-Salutatorians), then there would be a slideshow of their school life on the Rez (Mary's is much shorter as she had only been here for four years), and then Mr. Connor, the principle, would announce their names as they walked across the 'stage.'

It was probably the easiest thing in the world to do and not much practice was actually necessary. Still, I wanted Mary's graduation to be perfect, so I didn't comment on that fact. I had done the same thing two years ago (being the only one from my grade) and I didn't really see all of the hype. At least last year Peter and Tanner graduated together. Theirs was a lot more memorable than mine was. I just hoped that Mary's would be as wonderful as she deserved.

I spotted my imprint as soon as I entered the auditorium. She was standing at the podium, pretending to give her speech to the empty chairs as JJ stood to the right of her with Embry and Diana was talking to Mr. Conner off of the stage. Mary looked radiant in the spotlight, her skin seeming to glow, though it wasn't really since she wasn't phased and she barely had a quarter vampire DNA so she didn't shimmer in the sunlight just yet. Still, she looked radiant.

Mary smiled when she spotted me. "And that's the end of my speech." She said dramatically.

"Yes, very well." Mr. Conner said. "Diana, you're up."

As the girls switched spots, I kept eye contact with Mary. She briefly paused to talk to Mr. Conner, but then she was headed towards me.

Her arms wrapped around my waist in a hug and I gave her a kiss on the lips as a greeting.

"Did you see my parents out there?" My imprint asked, looking nervous.

"They'll be here soon." I promised.

"Good." Mary replied. "It's silly that I feel so nervous, isn't it?"

"No, it's not." I said. "This is a big day for you." And for both of us, I added in my head.

We stood in silence for a moment before I pulled out her graduation present.

"Sammy, you didn't have to get me anything." Mary said, though I could see in her eyes that she liked the fact that I did.

"I wanted to, though." I protested as I handed her the neatly wrapped little box and she took it from me.

"I should probably wait until the party tonight..." Mary tried to reason with herself even though I knew she was dying to open it.

"I'm sure one little early gift won't upset anyone." I persuaded her and she opened it, a smile on her lips as she saw what it was.

It was a charm for her ever growing charm bracelet. I had one for every special occasion in our lives. I even had one for tonight when I proposed. I wondered sometimes how she could keep her wrist up with as many charms as she had on, but she never asked for a new bracelet. I think eventually I might have to extend it into a necklace, but for now she had room to overstuff it a little more.

This one was black and looked like a little graduation cap since the charms not only were about things that we experienced together but about aspects of her own life that were monumental that I got to be a part of.

"Thank you, Sammy. This is beautiful." Mary said as she connected it to her bracelet.

"I'm glad you like it." I said, smiling at her with so much joy that it was hard to contain. "I just want everything to be perfect for you today."

Mary rolled her eyes. "It's just graduation. You said that you got bored during yours and wished that it hadn't gone so smoothly."

"I did." I smiled. "But this is _your_ graduation. It deserves perfection."

"You are so ridiculous." Mary teased, but she had a grin on her face as well.

"Is it my fault that I want perfection for my perfection?" I asked, making her blush.

"I-" She started but didn't get to finish because her parents arrived and she went to go talk to them.

The actual ceremony was much more interesting than I thought it would be. Partly, I think, because my imprint was involved and everything she did fascinated me. The other reason was because when Diana was in the middle of her speech, Gretchen Abbott entered the auditorium. She had missed her best friend and drove up here by herself to see Diana's graduation. I thought it was sweet once I got over the fact that she interrupted the near perfect graduation.

When "Mary Elizabeth Black" was called to go receive her diploma, no one cheered louder than I did. Jacob tried, being the Alpha that he is, but I won.

The entire graduation went back to the Black's house for Mary's graduation party. Diana and JJ's out-of-town relatives left, though, since the twins had their graduation party last night. This was better, though, because I had more than just a party planned and I didn't exactly feel comfortable proposing in front of basic strangers.

Mary rode with her parents to their house and Jacob took the long way so that the rest of us could get there before they did. I took my position in the backyard amid the lanterns. It was just turning into dusk, though most of the party could see well in the dark, and I hoped that I didn't look as stupid as I felt just standing there by myself. The rest of the party was inside, giving Mary the sense that this was just a regular party. When she came looking for me, the group would no doubt have their faces pressed against the window.

Everyone knew that tonight I was going to propose. Everyone, that is, except Mary.

I paced back and forth nervously for what felt like forever but was probably only twenty minutes. At long last, my beautiful imprint

"Sammy, what are you doing out here all by yourself?" Mary asked, her eyes taking in the wonder of the paper lanterns that I had set up for her. Her favorite Disney movie was Tangled and I tried to capture as much of that romanticness as I could.

"Waiting for you," was my reply, placing my hand in my pocket to grip the velvet box.

"Did you do all of this?" Mary asked, recognizing the importance of the lanterns. When I nodded, she said, "It's so beautiful. I love it."

"I love you." I said, looking her in the eyes.

"I love you, too." Mary responded, taking a few more steps towards me.

"No, Mary, I mean, I _love_ you. As in love you forever." I said, having difficulty transitioning into my proposal. This part was where all of my planning had fallen short. I thought that as soon as I was proposing, it would actually be easier to find the perfect words.

"Sammy, I love you, too." Mary laughed at my loss of words. "And I always will."

"Yes, exactly! I will always love you." I said, my hand clasping the box in my pocket even though my palm was sweaty now.

"Sammy, what's going on with you?" Mary teased lightly. "You seem nervous."

I pulled out the box from my pocket and got down on one knee since I didn't know what else to do. That's what they did in movies, wasn't it? Mary's hand covered her mouth as she let out a little gasp.

"Mary Elizabeth Black, I love you with everything that I am and so much more. Will you do me the honors of becoming my wife?" I asked, my dark eyes staring into her brown ones.

"Yes." Mary whispered, then she tackled me. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" She said louder and we could hear cheers from inside the house as the rest of the family celebrated with us.

We laid comfortably on the grass, my arm around her as I slipped the ring on her finger. It wasn't flashy, but it was unique: the small diamond was woven around two interlacing gold bands, one of which had the date that I imprinted on her inscribed on the underside of it. In the box with the ring was the charm for her bracelet: a diamond heart like the one that her grandmother Bella had on her own charm bracelet.

"What do you want to set as our date?" I asked a little while later, keeping her wrapped up in my arms. "I figure the sooner we start planning, the more perfect it will be. I'm thinking about next June."

"How about May 14th?" Mary smiled widely at me, her excitement contagious.

"A year from now?" I asked. That seemed reasonable. I figured that Mary wouldn't want to wait very long considering she was basically a ticking time bomb for becoming a full vampire.

"How about an hour from now?" My imprint beamed at me with so much love that I thought I might have to sit down to contain it all.

"Don't you want to wait? We have all the time in the world!" I didn't want to pressure her into anything. I merely wanted to be her fiance as soon as Jacob allowed me to be. I had planned on marrying her in six months or so, that was how long typical engagements lasted wasn't it?

"I have been trying on wedding gowns with Alice for months." Mary rolled her eyes. "Nothing is more perfect than marrying you right now, Sammy."

"We don't have to rush into anything, Mary." I said, looking her dead in the eyes. "That's not why I chose today to ask you."

"If I want any chance at having a baby with you, we have to get married soon." Mary whispered, her eyes widened as she admitted her deepest fear.

"Your time isn't limited." I reasoned. "You're only a quarter vampire right now and your mother carried you when she was over half."

"Please, Sammy? For me?" Mary looked like she might cry. "I love you and I want to marry you right now and I want to have a_ chance_, one stinking little chance, to have a family with you before it's too late. Please, Sammy, give me one good reason why we should wait."

"Your family..." I started, but we both knew the argument was weak.

"My family loves me and only wants me to be happy." Mary spoke up. "What could be a better last human experience than having a baby? Rosalie would trade her existence for the slim shot that I have. No one would take this away from me...and if they don't support us, then I don't want them in our lives anyways."

"Are you sure about this, Mary?" I asked, already knowing that I would do anything for her. "You only get one wedding, don't you want it to be special? We can wait and do the grand wedding that I'm sure your Aunt Alice has been planning."

"It _is_ special. Because I'm marrying _you_." Mary smiled at me. "Besides, we have forever to renew our vows. Esme and Carlisle have been married eight times over the years. We can do an extravagant wedding whenever we want. I only want a small ceremony. Right now."

Robin was Mary's choice for Maid of Honor and Tanner the only one I had ever imagined as my Best Man. Since we were keeping it simple like Mary wanted, we didn't bother with any bridesmaids or groomsmen. I didn't even care that I didn't have a bachelor party. All I wanted was to please my imprint and the best way that I knew how was by marrying her so that I could give her a shot at the family that she always wanted.

Besides, after tonight, I would be the luckiest guy in the world: because my imprint would be my wife for eternity.


	43. Graduation

Graduation morning felt strange. I know I should have felt like I was leaving my childhood and high school career behind, but I didn't really feel any different. I did, however, feel nervous being away from Sammy all day long. At least he had a good excuse: he was helping my mom out with the party decorations since I was just going to be getting ready for the graduation and he would probably be bored watching Alice and Rosalie put make-up on me for hours.

Actually, now that I thought about it, my aunts had been getting me ready for twice as long as it usually took them. They did my make-up perfectly and then muttered about the time and then would wipe it all away and do it exactly the same as they had it before.

"Are you guys stalling me or something?" I asked Rosalie, but both of my aunts avoided me.

"We just want to make sure that your graduation is perfect." Rosalie spoke up at last. "You only get one, after all."

"And how many have you had, Rose? Aunt Alice?" I asked.

"Nineteen." Alice replied, her bright eyes wide as she got confused.

"Twenty-six." Rosalie mumbled, realizing what I was getting at.

"See? Then why should this one matter?" I asked, not sure why this was such a big deal to everyone. It was my life, wasn't it?

"Because this is probably going to be your last one as a human." Rosalie said in a sad tone. I knew that the loss of humanity was a sore subject for her.

"And, who knows if you'll actually have to have another one." Alice piped up as she fixed my curls for the hundredth time today.

"What makes you think that?" I asked, startled at the realization that this might be a bigger deal than I was making it.

"Well, when your mother married Jacob, she didn't go back to school with the rest of us when we moved." Alice explained. "And, with an imprint bond to Sammy, who knows what will happen. The only reason we continue to go to high school is to fit in with humans when we move to a new area. The tribe knows all about your heritage and you are basically accepted by all under the new Council. You might not ever have to leave the Reservation."

"But, I could if I wanted to." I said, sensing that my aunt's feelings were hurt. "I could come travel with you all after graduation and go to Dartmouth with Grandpa and Grandma like they always planned."

"You could." Rosalie smiled. "But, I have a feeling that you'll want to stay right where you are after graduation."

Alice shot her adopted sister a look, but I didn't understand why.

"I have forever to live my life. Human or otherwise." I said, trying to clear out some of this tension in the room. "Now make me beautiful so we can get this graduation over with."

"You sound just like your grandmother." Edward's voice startled me. I sought out his face in the reflection of the mirror. "She was in such a rush to be finished with high school, too."

"I think she was just ready to become your vampire bride." I teased. Bella made no secret of her desires while she was still human.

"If I remember correctly, Jacob promised you his blessing once you were graduated." Edward teased me back, chuckling when I blushed.

"I'm in no rush to be done with my humanity." I ignored him as best as I could. There was still something that I wanted to do as a human: have a baby of my very own. I knew that I was only seventeen, but my window for having children kept closing faster and faster. I was now twenty-six percent vampire. If I wanted to carry a child to full term like my mother wasn't able to do with me, I had to convince Sammy to marry me and carry his child within the next year.

"That was what Bella wanted, too." Edward looked both happy and sad to be in my thoughts. Alice and Rose either knew where my thoughts were going or could guess as much. I hadn't been very subtle when I was talking with Carlisle about my future.

"It's time to head over." Esme said, barely louder than a normal speaking voice. My hearing, along with my other senses, had heightened over the past three years as I slowly completed my Transformation. I was a quarter vampire which meant that I was a fourth more advanced all of the time than a human.

"Women, that means you!" Emmett yelled up the stairs. I felt bad for him, having to wait downstairs all morning while his mate paid me a crazy amount of attention.

We filed down the stairs and loaded into the cars. I rode with my grandparents since Daddy was still at a Council meeting and Momma was decorating for my party with Sammy.

"We love you, you know that, right?" Bella asked, turning in her seat to look me in the eyes.

"Of course I do, Grandma." I said, feeling great about the decision not to call her by her first name even though I technically looked as old as she did now. She kept a smile on her face until we parked and got out of the Volvo.

"Mary! There you are! We have to run through the procedure one more time." Embry Call, my teacher, Pack member, cross-country coach, and Councilman yelled when he spotted me getting out of the car.

"Chill, Coach." I said, rolling my eyes. "I'll be in in a minute."

I looked down at my outfit before I headed inside with Bella, making sure that my shoes hadn't gotten smudged from all of the dirt. Rose would kill me. I borrowed the silver pumps from her since Alice's feet were much too small and I didn't want to buy anything for graduation. It was bad enough that Momma and Daddy surprised me with an early gift this morning: a used four-door station wagon. Even though it wasn't fancy or expensive, it made me happy. Unfortunately, I didn't want everyone to spend all of their money on something as silly as graduation so I told my aunts that I wasn't going to accept anything new for my graduation wardrobe. The simple pink sundress for under my robe was borrowed from Esme and the jewlrey was a combination of Bella's and Alice's.

We were halfway through with practice when I spotted Sammy. "It's been great here, so, uh, thanks everyone...And that's the end of my speech!"

"Yes, very well." Mr. Conner said. "Diana, you're up."

I grinned at my shy friend as she took the stage. Even though it was just practice and there were literally five people in the auditorium right now, I could tell that she was nervous.

"I like your speech." The principal said without humor. "The ending needs a bit of work, though."

"Thank you, sir." I said, trying to get to my imprint's side. "I'll fix that before the ceremony."

My arms wrapped around his waist and a feeling of "home" washed over me. The older we got, the more and more that Sammy truly felt like the only place that I could be comfortable. I couldn't tell if that was the imprint pull telling me that it was time to get serious with my future mate, or if all teenage girls felt this way about their boyfriends.

"Did you see my parents out there?" I looked behind him, but they weren't there.

"They'll be here soon." Sammy said, a look passing over his features that I didn't quite recognize.

"Good." I replied, taking a deep breath then realizing that it was ridiculous. "It's silly that I feel so nervous, isn't it?"

"No, it's not." Sammy smiled kindly. "This is a big day for you."

We stood in silence for a moment before Sammy pulled out of our embrace and handed me a neatly wrapped little box.

"Sammy, you didn't have to get me anything." I protested, but I recognized the shape of the box and was dying to get my newest charm. I had recieved a charm for my bracelet for every special occasion: a black wolf to always have him with me, our first Valentine's day together, the first time we went to a movie together, every birthday, the first time that we told each other that we loved each other, Christmas last year, the first time that I got my period, the largest mountain lion that we took down together two springs ago, _everything._

"I wanted to, though." Sammy grinned, seeing the anticipation on my face.

"I should probably wait until the party tonight..." I thought out-loud.

"I'm sure one little early gift won't upset anyone." Sammy commented and I thought about my parents' early gift and knew that they wouldn't mind.

This one was black and looked like a little graduation cap. I smiled as I clasped this one to my bracelet. "Thank you, Sammy. This is beautiful."

"I'm glad you like it." Sammy looked like he might have a heart attack. "I just want everything to be perfect for you today."

"It's just graduation." I rolled my eyes. "You said that you got bored during yours and wished that it hadn't gone so smoothly."

"I did. But this is _your_ graduation. It deserves perfection." Sammy seemed to be on the same page with the rest of my family. What was with everyone? I wasn't dying or anything. I was just finishing up school.

"You are so ridiculous." I even stuck my tongue out at him.

"Is it my fault that I want perfection for my perfection?" Sammy asked and I knew that my cheeks were bright red.

"I-" I was about to reply but I saw my parents and went to talk to them. Saved by the parents.

Graduation went by in a blur. Even Gretchen showing up didn't really stop the flow. I had to force myself not to get embarrassed when I picked out my father and my imprint's cheers above the entire crowd when my name was called. After that, it was pretty much over and I found myself in the car again. This time, however, I was with my parents.

"I'm so proud of you, honey." Momma smiled from the front seat, looking so much like her own mother in that moment that I had to make sure that I got in the right car. But her eyes were brown and her hair was lighter; not to mention, her voice held more warmth than the tinkling bell of a full vampire's did.

"Thanks, Momma." I said, smiling back at her.

"We can hardly believe that you've grown up so much so quickly!" Daddy exclaimed.

"You've had seventeen years." I argued. "That's all that normal parents get to have."

"It wasn't enough." Jacob seemed to be thinking of something.

"It's not like you're going to lose me or anything just because I've graduated. I'm still living with you guys until I can convince Sammy to marry me." I joked, but neither of my parents thought that it was very funny. "Tough crowd." I muttered, earning a flicker of a grin from my mother.

"Is that really what you want, Mary? To be Sammy's wife forever and that's it?" Daddy asked me and my jaw dropped.

"Whaa-?" I couldn't even form the words. "What's wrong with wanting that?"

"Jake, I thought you said that you were going to ask this delicately?" Momma asked him, seeming as annoyed as I was shocked.

"I just need to make sure that my baby girl is sure about the choices that she makes." Jacob replied, turning to look at me as he kept one hand on the wheel. "Are you _sure _that this is what you want_,_ Mary?"

"With all of my heart." I swore. "You imprinted, Daddy, you know how it feels when the pull calls you to mate with your other half."

"I do not want to discuss _that_." Jacob groaned. "You are my little girl."

"I'm also now a woman." I said sternly. "I am a woman in love that knows exactly what she wants and who it is that she wants to spend the rest of her life with. I have forever to live and I want to spend every second of it with Sammy, by his side as his equal. Sharing a bond that is so pure and passionate that only a married couple should be able to experience because I will be giving something very sacred to him when we commit our love to each other."

"I think that she's sure." Momma looked like she was trying to suppress a giggle as she stared at her own husband's face as I talked about sex with them. I felt no shyness because this was all that I wanted: to be Sammy's wife and bare his children.

"What about college? You don't want to go?" Jacob asked, trying another tactic.

"Neither of you went." I argued. "And, I know that you were waiting for me to finish up with high school since you have your own forever to live and wanted to experience every moment of my childhood with me, but I don't see why I can't try to do that, too."

"You want a baby?" Momma asked, looking shocked. I don't know why since I made it very clear that that was what I wanted since I found out that I didn't actually have forever to carry a child.

"Is that so silly?" I asked, trying not to smear my mascara with the tears I could feel building up in my eyelids.

"No, sweetie, it's not." Nessie smiled sadly. "That shouldn't be the only reason that you want to get married so quickly, though."

"It's not!" I really didn't want to argue, especially since we were on our way to a party, but I couldn't help it. I needed them to understand. "I love Sammy with all of my heart. He imprinted on me and I imprinted on him so our bond is so much more powerful than a normal imprint bond. I need him, Momma. It hurts. Physically, it hurts to be away from him for even ten minutes. I want to be by his side for all eternity. And every second that I'm not _hurts._"

I let a single tear slip down my cheek, but I wiped it away quickly. The remainder of the car ride

"I can't argue with that pull." Daddy spoke up at long last. "I'm just not ready to let go of my little girl so soon."

"Daddy, I will _always_ be your little girl." I promised. "But what is the point in having a child if you aren't willing to let them grow into their own person once they're ready? It's my time to spread my wings a little, but you will always be my parents and I will always love you."

"Promise?" Jacob asked as the car pulled slowly into our driveway. All of the other party guests seemed to have already arrived, making me wonder how long we had been in the car. I didn't even notice because I was distracted by our conversation.

"I'm still your little girl, no matter how much I grow up." I promised, unable to help myself as I asked the next question. "Does this mean that you'll give Sammy your blessing when he asks to ask me to marry him?"

I couldn't help but notice the look that passed between my parents as we got out of the car.

"Sammy has my blessing. You've made it very clear that you know what you want." Daddy replied, a small smile on his lips. "I couldn't stop you if I tried."

"You're the best, Daddy!" I gave him a hug, stretching on my tallest tip-toes to do it.

"Hey! What about me?" My mother teased. "I think I'm pretty great, too."

"You're right," I moved to the other side of the car so I could hug her; it was a lot easier to get my arms around my tiny mother than my burly father. "You're also the best, Momma!"

Nessie kissed my cheek when I let go of her. "Now I believe we've got a party to attend. I've got a feeling it's going to be one that you'll never forget."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry about the backtracking, but this was an important scene. The wedding is next chapter so if there is any special bondtalk that you want Mary to have with someone on her big day, leave it in a review and I'll try to work it in. **


	44. Mrs Uley

My graduation party was in full swing and even though I was having fun, I still couldn't help but feel like I was missing something. Everyone kept smiling and snickering whenever I wanted to find out where Sammy was or when I said that today was really special. I didn't understand it. But hey, no one ever said that we were normal.

"Hey, have you seen Sammy?" I asked my cousin Peter. All of the other Pack boys were circled around the dessert table, as always.

"I think he's in the backyard." Peter said and JJ snickered.

"What's so funny?" I asked, not getting the joke.

"Oh, nothing." My fellow graduate smiled, obviously not going to tell me.

"One of these days you're going to have to tell me what's going on here." I threatened, pointing my finger at the boys. Even Tanner grinned when I did this. I didn't have time to deal with them, though. I hadn't seen my imprint in almost a half hour and I was starting to feel the pull painfully.

I caught him pacing in the backyard, looking as adorable in his slacks and white button down as he did this morning at graduation.

"Sammy, what are you doing out here all by yourself?" I asked, gasping when I saw what the backyard had been transformed into. There were lanterns everywhere...and I do mean everywhere. White perfect lanterns lighting up the sky just like in my favorite Disney movie. It was_ perfect_. I didn't believe him when he said that he was going to make today special for me. But I believed him now.

"Waiting for you," Sammy said, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Did you do all of this?" I asked to be sure. Because something like this, something so thoughtful and perfect had to be respected.

Sammy nodded, even though I knew that it could only have been his doing. Even Alice in all of her wonder couldn't have pulled this off as romantically as my imprint did. "It's so beautiful. I love it."

"I love you." Sammy said, his dark brown eyes staring into mine.

"I love you, too." I replied automatically but with my whole heart as I closed the distance between us.

"No, Mary, I mean, I _love_ you. As in love you forever." Sammy seemed so nervous.

"Sammy, I love you, too." I laughed; he just looked so adorable when he was stammering like that. "And I always will."

"Yes, exactly! I will always love you." Sammy said, his eyes lighting up like the fourth of July.

"Sammy, what's going on with you?" I teased, hoping that he would just tell me what had him acting so strange. "You seem nervous."

Before I knew what was happening, Sammy got down on one knee and pulled out a velvet box from his pocket. He opened it up and I couldn't help but gasp. That explained why Daddy had been acting so weird in the car. Because he had known all along that Sammy was going to propose.

"Mary Elizabeth Black, I love you with everything that I am and so much more. Will you do me the honors of becoming my wife?" Sammy asked and I had to focus on his eyes and not the shiny little diamond in his hand.

"Yes." I whispered, not quite believing that my biggest dream was actually a reality right now. Sammy was my fiance. My fiance! We were going to be married!

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" I said at an excited level, tackling my imprint. It startled me when I heard cheers coming from inside the house. But then I realized that they all must have known. Every single one of them. All of those glances and little smiles today and my aunts stalling me and my parents being protective and my grandfather talking to me about human Bella wanting to get married. It all made sense now.

"Did that really just happen?" I asked, letting out a giggle of happiness as I thought about being Mrs. Samuel Uley.

"You'd better believe it did." Sammy grinned, slipping the ring on my finger and putting the diamond heart charm on my bracelet. He put his arm around me and I leaned my head against his chest as we laid on the grass, content to stay here forever and stare at the lanterns and the stars with my fiance. "You're my fiance now, Mary."

"You're_ my_ fiance, Sammy." I said, letting out another giggle. It felt unreal how much happiness that one word brought.

"I like the sound of that." Sammy replied. Even though I couldn't see his face how we were laying, I knew that he was smiling a thousand-watt grin.

I admired the ring on my left hand as Sammy's heartbeat pounded away in his chest with mine. It wasn't huge or gaudy, but that was more than alright with me. The diamond was just the right size to not overwhelm my tiny fingers. There were two gold bands circling around each other, much like my life and Sammy's were permanently intertwined. I took it off of my finger for a minute to look at it.

"What is this date?" I asked, looking at the inscription closer. It was months before our first date had been, nearly three and a half years ago.

"That was the day that I imprinted on you." Sammy said in a slow whisper. I couldn't tell if he was trying to emphasis his words or if he was sad that I didn't remember it.

"You hated me then!" I exclaimed, a smile on my face. It was easy to think of it as a happy memory now that I wasn't living it.

"I couldn't hate you. Even then when I thought you were the enemy, I couldn't hate you." Sammy said honestly. "I think I loved you even then. It was just harder to recognize because I was a stupid little boy."

"Even so, I'm glad that you remembered our date." I spoke up, tilting my head so that I could kiss him. "That means a lot to me, baby."

"So, what do you want to set as our new date? The one for when you become my wife and I become your husband?" Sammy asked me, looking me in the eyes since we were now facing each other on our sides. "I figure the sooner we start planning, the more perfect it will be. I'm thinking about next June."

_Now_ was my immediate thought. But that was crazy, right? We couldn't get married tonight. A wedding takes planning and a dress and someone to officiate it and all of our family..._except-_we had all of those things here right now or we could get them on very short notice.

"How about May 14th?" I asked, trying not to grin too much as I thought about it.

"A year from now?" Sammy asked, seeming content with the idea.

"How about an hour from now?" I proposed, smiling at my imprint in a way that I hoped conveyed all the love I had for him.

"Don't you want to wait? We have all the time in the world!" Sammy looked nervous, but not for himself. He seemed to be concerned about how I felt about all of this. Didn't he see that this was my idea? I had no second thoughts about marrying him, especially if I could marry him right now.

"I have been trying on wedding gowns with Alice for months." I rolled my eyes. "Nothing is more perfect than marrying you right now, Sammy."

"We don't have to rush into anything, Mary. That's not why I chose today to ask you." Sammy, my wonderful imprint, was trying to make me feel like I wasn't pressuring him by acting like he was pressuring me. But I had to marry him soon. Because my time was running out and as much as I loved my imprint, I knew that if I didn't have a child, I would feel like a failure to him. It was an imprint's duty to bare children. And I wanted to so badly.

"If I want any chance at having a baby with you, we have to get married soon." I whispered, trying to keep my voice level.

"Your time isn't limited. You're only a quarter vampire right now and your mother carried you when she was over half." Sammy tried to comfort me, but I could feel tears about to come on.

"Please, Sammy? For me?" I begged. "I love you and I want to marry you right now and I want to have a_ chance_, one stinking little chance, to have a family with you before it's too late. Please, Sammy, give me one good reason why we should wait."

"Your family..." Sammy had already gotten his blessing from my father and my mother wanted me to be happy, she made that very clear in the car.

"My family loves me and only wants me to be happy." I said loud enough for all of the wolves and vampires in the other room to hear me. "What could be a better last human experience than having a baby? Rosalie would trade her existence for the slim shot that I have. No one would take this away from me...and if they don't support us, then I don't want them in our lives anyways."

"Are you sure about this, Mary?" Sammy asked, but I could tell he had already given in. "You only get one wedding, don't you want it to be special? We can wait and do the grand wedding that I'm sure your Aunt Alice has been planning."

"It _is_ special. Because I'm marrying _you_." I smiled. "Besides, we have forever to renew our vows. Esme and Carlisle have been married eighty times over the years. We can do an extravagant wedding whenever we want. I only want a small ceremony. Right now."

"If we're doing this tonight, then Tanner has to be my Best Man. I don't really care about the rest of it as long as I marry you at the end of it all." Sammy stated simply.

"Fine by me." I grinned. "I'd like to keep it small. I was thinking that Robin might like to be my Maid of Honor. Do you think she would do it?"

"I think she would be honored." My fiance grinned back at me.

"At least everyone is already dressed for the occasion." I pointed out.

"You know what this means, though, don't you?" Sammy asked and I shook my head. "It means that we're going to have to get up off this ground and go plan ourselves a wedding."

As soon as we stood up, it was like the magic of the moment disappeared. The very anxious party-goers rushed out to congratulate us on getting engaged and I showed off my ring to everyone, unable to contain my happy glow.

"We're getting married!" I announced excitedly. "Tonight!"

After I argued with my father for a little bit about not rushing into things, I was whisked away by my aunts. All of them: Alice, Rosalie, Rachel, and Rebecca. Bella came and helped for a short while, but Alice sent her away because she was counterproductive. I think she ended up with Emily, Nessie, and Esme who were fixing the lanterns in a way that created an aisle and also setting up chairs. Edward and Carlisle went to get the piano from upstairs and set it out the back porch for the ceremony like I asked. Emmett and Jasper thought it would be funny to go get a gazebo and install it in the backyard at the end of the aisle at vampire speed to freak out the few human guests that were present.

Everyone was already here that I wanted to be so I didn't have to worry about the guest list very much. Even Maitlin since Seth brought her to the party since the Cullens had been invited. His half-vampire imprint was allowed on the Reservation all of the time, just like my mom was, but Maitlin got nervous around so many people. Not because they were werewolves, but because she had lived alone with her father Joham and her sister Ceicely for most of her life in the Amazon jungle. Nahuel, who lived alone with just Huilen, had a lot more practice dealing with humans because he switched his diet to vegetarian as soon as he was introduced to the Cullens and my mother.

That reminded me.

"Where's Nahuel?" I asked my aunts who were busy getting me ready for my wedding.

"Edward already sent for him. He should be here by now." Rosalie laughed. "We have everything taken care of. Don't worry."

"I wish you had given us a little bit more time to make everything perfect." Alice grumbled, but she was only half teasing.

"In ten years, I'll let you throw us the biggest wedding renewal in the history of weddings." I promised, watching my aunt's eyes light up like I knew that they would. "This is my warning, Alice. You have ten years to plan the perfect wedding by your ridiculous standards. I just want my version of our wedding to happen right now."

"You are the best, Mary." Alice all but squealed.

"Knock, knock." My father said, standing in the doorway of my changing room, ie the guest room on the far side of the house. I guess this meant that it was time to head out soon.

"It only counts if you actually knock, dog." Rosalie joked. Though my father and aunt had always called each other names and teased each other, I could tell that they had real feelings for each other. They were sort of like siblings or cousins that you love to pick on.

"Hey, Blondie, I've got a knock-knock joke for you." Jacob was grinning, like he always did when he thought he could make a little dig at Aunt Rose. "Knock, knock."

"I'm going to regret this but..." Rosalie muttered under her breath. "Who's there?"

But we never heard the rest of the joke because my father spotted me in my wedding gown.

"Oh, Mary...you look beautiful." Daddy said, coming into the room and standing behind me in the mirror. "You look just like your mother."

"Really? I think she looks like you." Aunt Rebecca claimed, staring at the two of us side-by-side.

This was the age-old debate when it came to my looks. I had my father's jet black hair and jawline and the same shape of our noses. I had my mother's curly ringlets and big brown eyes and thin eyebrows. I thought I was perfectly balanced between both sides of my family. I was a Cullen and a Black with a little bit of Swan thrown in there. It was weird that I looked older than my mother now, though.

My make-up was flawless, since it had been done by my vampire aunts, and it only accented my natural beauty. My curls had been pinned up in a loose bun at the back of my head below my custom-made veil, except for a few strands that framed the front of my face.

My wedding gown was one-of-a-kind Vera Wang. Not that I cared much about the label. That part was for Alice. The part that I cared about was that it was perfect. The gown was long, white, had sparkles along the neckline, had sleeves falling off of my shoulders, and it puffed out at the bottom like a princess' gown would. Actually, it looked a lot like Belle's gown in Beauty and the Beast, only it was white instead of yellow. I always did want a fairy tale wedding: between my gown, my lanterns, and my prince, I was pretty much getting that.

"It's nearly eight." Alice had an internal clock. It was kind of freaky. But it sure was useful.

"We'd better go take our seats." Becks kissed my cheek as she left. "Good luck, sweetie."

"Don't forget to breath." Rosalie advised, smiling at me as if I were her own daughter. I wonder if this is how my mother felt on her wedding day.

"You really do look beautiful, Mary." Rachel gave me an air hug so as not to ruin all of our hard work.

"I'd better not see you trip in this gown." Alice grumbled, but the pixie had a grin on her face.

And just like that, I was being led to the other room. My aunts went ahead outside and took their seats while Daddy made sure that I was hidden from sight. Once it was just us, he kissed my forehead.

"You know, I really am happy for you, Mary." He smiled sadly. "Sammy is a lucky man."

"You'll never lose me, Daddy." I promised. "This was inevitable, though, from the moment that Sammy and I imprinted."

"Now I know how Edward felt." Daddy grumbled, but it was mostly a joke.

"Don't lie, Daddy, aren't you happy that my husband will be my imprint? That I'll never have to worry about him leaving me or hurting me?" I asked.

"Of course I do." Jacob smiled. "I'm just not ready for you to grow up yet."

"Face it, Daddy. I'm already grown up." My father's eyes were full of sadness and acceptance.

"I think I might need a minute." Daddy said, walking towards the hallway. I knew he didn't want to cry in front of me and even though I wanted to go after him, I stayed where I was.

Tanner took my father's spot and I tried to put a smile on my face as I thought of my dear old dad being sad about my marriage.

"You ready to have a giant family?" Tanner asked me jokingly. "Because it's not just Sammy you're getting in this union."

It was just the two of us for a moment since Robin stopped my father and they were talking in the hallway. I peeked out of the door, careful to hide my gown from anyone who might be looking this way, and grinned as I saw my fiancee standing at the end of the aisle next to Carlisle who would be officiating the wedding. My imprint looked so handsome in his tux that Alice had bought for him months ago. His dark skin contrasted nicely with the starched white button-down. His dark brown eyes were scanning the back porch, looking for a glimpse of me in my gown no doubt.

I smiled, knowing that he couldn't see me looking at his siblings in the front row next to his parents. Emmie, at thirteen, looked the spitting image of her mother. Johnny and Jessy, eleven, were getting closer and closer to their date with destiny since neither of the twins had phased yet but were starting to shoot up. Little Sally was now eight and I could tell that she was having trouble sitting still in her little blue dress.

My cousins Peter and Sara were sitting with Aunt Rachel and Uncle Paul. Aunt Rebecca was sitting next to her twin. They sat on the "bride's" side in front of the Cullens but behind where my mother was sitting with Grandpa Edward and Grandma Bella in the front row. Seth and Maitlin were with Nahuel in the back row.

JJ and Diana were on the "groom's" side with their parents even though I could tell that Diana would much rather be sitting with her boyfriend, Peter. Embry and a very pregnant Leah were sitting behind them. Quil and Claire had six year old Quincy and four year old Clara in chairs next to them. Three year old little Blaire Ateara was the only one not having fun with having to sit still. She was bawling her eyes out, muttering her imprinter's name over and over again. I knew that it pained Tanner to have to stay with the wedding party and not go to her instantly.

They all had a two hour break between when Sammy proposed and when the wedding was set to take place to go home and change into a dress or suit if they weren't already dressed up. I didn't think that it was necessary, but since Alice put herself in charge, I couldn't really reign her in. Instead of the graduation party that they were expecting, I kind of sprung a wedding on them.

"I think I can handle it." I told my future brother-in-law, smiling again at the thought. I wanted to be a part of a big family. I wanted to have my _own_ big family, but that was a lot less likely.

"Mary, I can't believe this is happening so quickly. Actually, I can. I always knew you'd be the first one of us to get married." Robin joked, taking her spot next to Tanner in front of me. Her short cream colored dress complimented her skin tone and she couldn't look more beautiful.

"Your time will come, I'm sure, and then I'll be your Maid of Honor." I promised hopefully, though, without an imprint the certainty was a lot less.

"Any niece of mine is sure to be the belle of the ball when her time comes." My father tried to be helpful. I was glad that he was in a better mood, at least. I couldn't tell if he was trying to overcompensate his sadness with humor or if he really felt better, but I was happy to see a smile on his face.

"Um, sorry Uncle Jake, but no one says things like that anymore." Robin was laughing, though. At twenty-one, Robin was a free spirit who didn't believe that she had to be weighed down by a husband in order to be a functioning member of the tribe or even the world.

"Well, it'd be true anyways." Jacob smiled. "Just like my daughter is the belle of her own ball tonight."

"Daddy!" I was embarrassed, but not enough to actually stop him since he was in a good humor.

"You are, sweetie." My father wrapped his arm around me in a hug, not caring if he messed up my dress. "You look beautiful, Mary. Just like a princess."

"I feel like a princess." I couldn't keep the grin off of my face.

"As long as he treats you like one." I could tell that Daddy was having a hard time not growling.

"Sammy is better than a prince. He's my imprint, Daddy." I smiled, tightening my grip as I laced our arms together.

I stood on my tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek. "You should know better than anyone how much that means to the woman that an imprint loves."

The wedding march wafted through the room from outside as Edward began the ceremony right when I said that we should start. Tanner and Robin laced arms and walked ahead of us, Robin with a bundle of flowers in her hand that matched her dress. I looped my arm back around with my father's and we smiled at each other one last time before he walked me down the aisle.

Sammy looked me in the eyes as I walked, each step I took brought me one step closer to my future and I had to make myself go slowly. Daddy placed my hands in Sammy's and lifted up my veil when Carlisle asked who gave the bride and from then on, it was only Sammy.

"Samuel Thomas Uley, do you take Mary Elizabeth Black to be your lawful wedded wife, to live in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love, honour, comfort, and cherish her from this day forward, forsaking all others, keeping only unto her for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." My imprint said with such authority that it shocked me the power in it.

"Mary Elizabeth Black, do you take Samuel Thomas Uley to be your lawful wedded wife, to live in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love, honour, comfort, and cherish her from this day forward, forsaking all others, keeping only unto her for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." I couldn't keep the crazy grin off of my face.

"You may now kiss the bride." Carlisle didn't have to tell me twice.

And in that moment, as my lips collided with my husband's, all of my dreams officially came true.

Sammy pulled away from our kiss first, since I was having trouble stopping myself. That was when he looked me in the eyes and said, "I love you, Mrs. Uley."


	45. Mary's Eyes

It's ironic that I wasn't the first one to notice my body changing. As always, it was my overprotective loving imprint.

"Sammy, what did I tell you about leaving your shoes in the hallway?" I asked when I got home on a chilly November morning from the grocery store and nearly tripped on one of his sneakers.

Though we had been married for six months, we were still getting used to living together. I thought that being imprints that everything would just happen perfectly and we would never have little tifts, but sometimes we would get on each others' nerves. We were accommodating to each others' wants and needs but we were also human (mostly) and didn't live in a perfect-world where nothing was ever going to go wrong. We never yelled or fought, but we would have to discuss what was bothering us about the other one.

This was one of the reoccurring problems: Sammy left his shoes everywhere and I was constantly tripping on them. It wasn't that he was being rude or anything, he just forgot to go put them away.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. I'll get them in a minute." My husband called from the bedroom where he was no doubt getting up from a nap.

My poor baby had been up on patrol for most of the night since there had been a vampire sighting in the area. With Greg dead and JJ off to college, our numbers were short. I offered to run patrol but Conner Waters, one of the newest phasing wolves, couldn't distinguish my twenty-eight percent vamprism with an actual vampire and both Sammy and Daddy felt that it was better for me to sit it out until Conner could adjust to Pack life. Not to mention the fact that everyone was worried about having me phase and take on another half percent of my vampire side.

"No, it's fine." I responded, feeling bad that I had gotten so irritated about it when I knew that he probably kicked his shoes off after a long night so that he could crawl in bed with me this morning before my alarm went off. I bent down and picked them up easily even though I had a bag of groceries in each hand.

"Don't pick them up, Mary. You were right, I should have put them in our room." His voice was getting closer and closer to me and in a second, he had the bedroom door open. His eyes were sleep-ridden and his chest was bare, but I couldn't help but stare at him.

Sammy saw the sneakers in my hand and frowned. "I told you to leave them. I was going to get them."

"I know, but you were tired." I explained, looking down at the ground, knowing that he hated it when I made the Pack an excuse to get him out of trouble.

"Mary, sweetie, we're going to have to accept that we have flaws." Sammy reasoned. "But I am perfectly capable of picking up my shoes. I'm sorry that I forgot again but, please, it's my responsibility to put them away and you should not have to pick up the slack just because of my patrols. I don't want you to think that you have to take care of me just because of the imprint."

"It's not the imprint." I said sternly; it was because I loved him. I looked him dead in the eyes, hoping that he would see how much this was a decision and not fate playing with my emotions.

"Mary, your eyes!" Sammy let out what can only be known as a manly-gasp.

"My eyes? What about them?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"How long have you been phased? You didn't go to the market like that, did you? You know how much it freaks out the checker." My imprint asked me, raising an eyebrow back at me.

"I'm not phased." I said slowly. I could always feel a little shift along my spine, much like the wolves did when they phased, whenever I was going full-vamp. I felt nothing now, only worry that my husband had finally lost it due to the stress he was under lately.

"You can't feel the difference?" Sammy asked me. "Mary, your eyes are crimson."

I went to the bathroom to check the color of my eyes, panicked when I saw that they were in fact red. I made it all the way back to the hallway before I lost it. I put the grocery bags on the table and dropped Sammy's sneakers, unable to keep anything in my hand. Then I started crying, huge tears falling down my cheeks as I thought about what this meant. My body couldn't tell the difference of when I was phased and when I wasn't anymore. I was becoming more vampire than I thought.

"Mary, you're _crying_." But he didn't sound concerned like he usually was when I cried. My imprint sounded scared.

"Aren't I allowed to cry?" I don't know why I was suddenly angry at him, but I snapped at him. "Don't you think that under the circumstances I'm allowed to cry? I mean, I didn't even know I was phased!"

"Sweetie, I think you need to calm down..." Still there was the fear. "I'm going to call your fathe-"

"You are _not_ going to call my parents." I hissed, forcing myself to stay where I was and not get any closer to him. With the mood I was in, I wasn't sure what I would do but I was glad that my imprint was a werewolf and could handle it if I did slip up in my anger.

"I have to call someone." Sammy was stern, using his Alpha-authority voice. "If not your parents then at least Carlisle or Edward."

"I'll calm down and phase back." I promised, scared at being treated like a freak; both my tears and my anger were gone. "Please, Sammy, don't call anyone."

"I have to, sweetie...your eyes are still red." Sammy said slowly, making sure that I understood what he meant.

It took me a minute, but I finally got it. Why Sammy was freaking out, why my parents needed to be told, why it was such a big deal that I had cried and that my eyes were red, why it was an important change that I couldn't tell when my body was phased or not...

"Sammy, what's happening to me?" I begged for an answer even though I knew there wasn't one.

"I don't know, sweetie." My imprint's eyes got dark with determination. "But I swear to god that we'll find out."


	46. Seeing the Doctor

**AN: Sorry this chapter is sort of short, but I figured a quicker post was better than a long chapter. I love your reviews and interest in this story (: **

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><p>After a lot of coaxing, I finally agreed to go see a doctor. A vampire doctor, that is. Whatever was wrong with me, it was better to know for sure (or as sure as we could given my specialness) than to be completely in the dark. Besides, when I couldn't phase back on my own after twenty minutes of trying, I got a lot more worried.<p>

Sammy held my hand the entire drive there, a panicked look on his face. When we got to the Cullen Mansion, I took a deep breath before my family surrounded the truck. Momma and Daddy had followed in their car behind us from the Rez as soon as Sammy called them.

Everyone was concerned about this new development, me included. I just didn't want to feel like a freak-show to my family. They had always been the ones who had my back no matter what, no matter how special I was. For the first time in my life, I felt like they were secretly judging my inability to be either human or vampire or even half vampire like my mother.

Luckily, when it came time for the exam, it was just me and Grandpa Carlisle and Sammy, of course.

"How long have you said that she's been like this?" Carlisle asked, shining the little flashlight in first my right eye then my left again.

"Mary got home an hour ago and I noticed right away that her eyes were red. We were arguing about my shoes and I think that it upset her enough to trigger a phase. The weird part was that she didn't seem to know that she had phased." Sammy explained everything, step-by-step. "Her emotions kept changing so quickly but her eyes remained red. And then she cried."

"While she was phased like this?" My grandfather asked, still speaking to my husband instead of me.

"I'm right here, you know." I muttered, but it was halfhearted. I kind of liked that Sammy was taking charge, it meant that I didn't have to think about it as much.

"You're right, honey. I'm sorry." Carlisle apologized and Sammy looked at me with those giant eyes of his with an apology in them. "How are you feeling with all of this?"

"I'm scared." I admitted. "Does this mean that I'm going to be a full vampire from now on?"

"I'm going to do blood work to check your levels." My vampire/human level. I was used to this.

"Just a regular blood test? Are you sure that that's all you can do?" Sammy asked, trying to hide his irritation.

"Well, I can do a full body exam if it would make you more comfortable. There's not a lot that we can do other than try to get Mary to calm down enough to try and phase back if she can." My grandfather looked helpless. "I wish there was more that I could do, but there isn't."

"I'd like the check-up." I spoke up, trying to ease both of their minds. And mine.

"Sure thing, Mary." Carlisle smiled, happy that I wasn't going to snap at him like Sammy did. It was in an imprint's nature to worry, though. If something like this was happening to Sammy, like he couldn't phase back into his human form, I would be demanding answers too.

"Do you want to stay for the exam?" I asked Sammy, knowing that it might put him at ease if he saw that my grandfather was doing everything in his power to find out if I was going to be stuck like this forever or if my system was just on the fritz.

My imprint nodded, "It's not like I haven't seen it all before."

For the first time today, he had a smile on his lips. It was a smirk, granted, but it was still a positive expression. I think that had more to do with the fact that he was now picturing me naked in his bed like we were last night. I had to admit, imprints sure had a connection when it came to that aspect of our relationship as well. We had sex every night even when Sammy came in dead tired from patrol. I think the wolf instincts took over whenever I was near him. _Mine_ I could almost feel him thinking when we made love.

"Yes, well, this is my granddaughter, young man." Carlisle chided lightly, but he had an amused expression on his face. "Maybe it is best if you stayed in the other room so as not to feel..._territorial_ while I exam Mary."

"I wouldn't-" Sammy started to say, but stopped himself. I think he was thinking about the other day at the grocery store when the bag boy offered to help carry my groceries and Sammy flipped out. "You're right. It's an imprinted wolf's curse to be territorial. I don't think I could handle seeing you examine her without wanting to kill you."

Carlisle took the comment like a champ, not the least bit offended that my husband had threatened him. "It's understandable, especially with your sexual relationship being so new."

When Sammy left the room, Carlisle ran the necessary tests, drew blood, and checked out all of my vital systems. Most people would think it was weird that their great-grandfather was giving them such a personal exam, but with my special DNA even if I felt uncomfortable with Carlisle, there wasn't really anyone else that I could go to. Maybe Grandpa Edward, but that was pretty much the same thing. At least with Carlisle, I wasn't actually blood related to him. Not that I had ever had a problem with him being the one to give me exams as I got older anyways.

Carlisle and Esme went to the third floor of the house to run the tests through the medical machines that they had acquired over the years. Especially when Bella entered their lives, they knew that technology like this would be required. The rest of the family sat with us in the living room. My stomach felt queasy as I awaited the results.

_Please don't be a full vampire yet...__Please don't let me be a full vampire yet,_ I begged over and over in my head. Edward gave me strange looks, but he didn't say anything. I knew deep down that it probably hurt his feelings that I didn't want to be like everyone else. But I had my imprint to think about.

"What's the verdict, Doc?" Jacob asked two hours later when Esme and Carlisle finally emerged from the tech room.

"Mary's natural instincts are taking over." Carlisle said, a crazy-stupid grin on his face.

"And that's a good thing?" I asked at the same time that Sammy asked, "I thought we were trying to slow down her Transformation so that she could try to get pregnant?"

"Oh, there's no need for that anymore." Still grinning, Carlisle came over and gave me a hug. "You're not phased, Mary. This is how you will be for the next few months, maybe even the rest of your life."

"A full vampire?" I asked, angry that my grandfather would smile about that. Even Esme seemed ecstatic I wasn't ready! There were still human things that I needed to do.

"Mary, do you feel like you're a full vampire?" Esme asked slowly, looking me deep in my eyes.

"Well...no." I said, closing my eyes and feeling every sense that I had. I felt better than when I was fully human, but I hadn't been a human for a long time (nearly four years). I didn't feel like a Newborn, though. I felt perfectly fine, though.

"I'd be able to see her clearly if she was a full vampire already." Alice spoke up helpfully. "Mary is fuzzy still, but less so than Sammy or Jacob."

"Exactly." Carlisle was still grinning.

"If I'm not phased then why are my eyes red?" I asked. None of this was making any sense.

"I'm not sure why your eyes changed colors. That could have been random or because of how you I do know, however, that you are closer to half-vampire like your mother than you are to a full vampire." Carlisle explained, though I still didn't understand.

"That's not possible." Sammy seemed angry. At who, I wasn't sure. "She was only twenty-eight percent yesterday!"

"Mary's instincts are taking over because her body is getting ready for a final change. Just like Nessie became more than half vampire when she stopped Changing." Carlisle explained.

"But I'm not a half vampire." I said, scared at what this meant. "Is that what my body seems to be stopping at?"

"I think you'll be fifty-one percent vampire just like your mother." Still, no one understood what he meant. How could he know for sure all of a sudden? This morning he thought that I was fully vampire.

"Your body is protecting the baby." Edward said, reading Carlisle's mind, a huge smile on his lips as well.

"Whaa?" I asked, my mouth gaping open.

"Your body is accelerating in order to protect the baby." Edward repeated.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Nessie asked, her face glowing with happiness.

"Mary, Sammy, get ready to be parents." Esme grinned like the happy grandmother she was. "You're pregnant!"

If I wasn't already sitting down, I would have had to. Pregnant? After all of this time my dream was about to come true? I looked at Sammy. He had tears falling down his cheeks unabashfully as he stared back at me.

My imprint placed his hand on my stomach gently. "You're having our baby."

And that was when I knew that I was. Even if I had to stay this way forever, with red eyes and all, I would gladly take the trade-off to be able to carry a child for my husband. Even if this pregnancy was messy or nearly killed me like I did for my mother and my mother did for her own mother, I would not trade this moment for anything in the world.


	47. Sammy's POV: Mary's Pregnancy

**AN: Sorry in advance for the weird time shifts in this chapter but I'm hitting the high points of Mary's pregnancy. I tried not to make it _too_ sappy...but I'm a big cheese-ball :P Leave reviews and let me know what you think :)**

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><p>Since the moment that we found out that we were expecting, I was over-the-moon. Mary's body changed so dramatically during the first few weeks of her pregnancy that I feared the baby would be dangerous to Mary's health. Carlisle had been keeping a close eye on Mary's condition, both concerning the pregnancy and her vamprism. Her eyes hadn't changed back to their normal chocolate brown, but I loved her red eyes too. Carlisle wasn't sure if they would change back once the baby was born and her body wasn't on high alert, but I didn't care either way. Mary was Mary, no matter what form she took.<p>

Other than getting to near fifty percent vampire in those first few days, there wasn't anything hazardous about her changing body. She was following Nessie's path for her pregnancy with Mary pretty much to a tee. Which meant that Mary was going to probably have a normal human pregnancy, though there would be a risk of premature labor at around eight months if my imprint really did follow exactly like her mother did.

Today was the day we were going to attempt a sonogram. By our calculations, Mary was now three months along.

"Mary, you look positively glowing." Carlisle commented when we entered the room. "Pregnancy suits you."

"Why, thank you, Granddad." My wife smiled kindly, absentmindedly rubbing her stomach.

"Are you ready to see your baby?" Carlisle asked as Mary scooted onto the cot-like bed set up since Bella got pregnant all those years ago.

"Yes!" Mary was more excited than I'd seen her in weeks.

"You sure this will work, Doc?" I asked, not wanting to get my hopes up. "I mean, Mary isn't human."

"If it worked when Nessie was carrying this little tike," Carlisle grinned and poked Mary on the nose, "then I'm sure it will work with your child as well."

"That's good to hear, Dr. Cullen." I said, shaking out some of my nerves.

"Sammy, I'm family now." Another smile. "You can call me Carlisle."

"When we're in here, I can't think of you as Mary's grandfather, Doc." I shrugged.

"Right." Carlisle took it good heartedly and got the show on the roll again. "Well, are you guys ready to see your baby?"

"Yes." Mary and I responded together. The Doc had her lay down on her back and pull up her shirt while he got the machines ready.

"Now, this is usually cold for a human's stomach," Carlisle held up a small tube of gel, "but your mother had no objections to it so we'll see."

Mary nodded. "I'm up for it. I'll let you know if it's cold."

Carlisle squirted the gel onto my imprint's stomach and used a silver wand thing to spread it. He clicked a button and glanced back at the screen to make sure that it was working.

"Do you see right there?" Carlisle asked, looking at a blob on the screen that stuck out from other blobs.

"What is that?" Mary asked, wonder on her face even though she didn't know what she was looking at. Anything on that screen was a part of our baby.

"Your baby's head." Carlisle beamed. "Closer to the right ear and near the right eyebrow."

"Can we see more?" I asked, eager to get a better look at my baby.

Carlisle scanned again and a nearly identical image showed up on the screen.

"Can you only see the head?" I asked. Though I was happy to see my child's head, I wanted to see every single part of my baby.

"That's a different head." Carlisle looked like he was never going to stop smiling.

"A different head?" I asked, not understanding what the doctor meant. But Mary did.

"Two babies inside of me?" Mary asked, her eyes huge. She looked at me, her cheeks flushed. "We're having twins?"

"Twins?" I repeated, shock clear on my face.

Carlisle laughed. "Congratulations, kids, you're about to have double the workload."

I smiled at Mary, letting this moment soak in. Doc, and everyone else, knew that Mary couldn't have more than one birth. Just like Nessie had started to become over fifty-percent vampire, so would Mary, thus ending any changes that her body would ever make...especially regarding the changes needed for another pregnancy. Mary would get the chance to have not just a child, but _children_. It was more than we could have ever wished for.

"I want to see more of them!" Mary was ecstatic, just like I was. "My babies!"

So for the next hour or so, Carlisle showed us every part of our children that would show up on the screen even though it wasn't much. I wished that we could know the genders of our babies already, but Carlisle said that it would be another month before they could be seen.

"That's strange." Carlisle mused when we were nearly finished. "I only hear one heartbeat. I was so distracted with the machine that I didn't focus on it."

"Doc, what does that mean?" I asked, my voice raised.

"What's wrong, Granddad?" Mary was just as worried, maybe even more so.

"Nothing's wrong, darling." Carlisle tried to be optimistic as he kept scanning. "I'll figure it out." He muttered more to himself than to us.

I listened intently, as I knew that the two of them were doing, and tried to pick out the twins' heartbeats. I heard mine (strong and powerful), Mary's (delicate yet firm), and I heard the little pitter-patter of one of the babies.

"You don't think that it's because one of them is a vampire, do you? A full vampire? They don't have heartbeats." I asked after what seemed like ten minutes of silence. It was a fear of mine. Not that I wouldn't love my children no matter what they were like, but I knew that the chances were pretty high of having a fully (or close to it) vampire baby with Mary's vampire phasing ability.

"Vampires cannot be born of a human. They are only created when they are bitten." Carlisle said, though his expression was one of curiosity.

"You didn't think that a vampire could father a child either and Edward did." I shoved facts in his face because I couldn't stop worrying. "You didn't think that a half-vampire and a werewolf, complete enemies, could have a child and Nessie and Jake did. Come on, Doc, tell me the truth. Do you know for certain that this isn't a possibility?"

"I don't think that a fully vampire child could survive this long in the womb, if this were the case." Carlisle changed his wording so that his point was more clear. "It would have either killed Mary or died trying..."

Mary let out a gasp, unprepared for her great-grandfather's brutal honesty. "My babies are fine, right?" The panic was back in her voice.

Then I thought the most awful thought I had ever imagined: What if there was only one heartbeat because there was only one baby still growing in Mary's stomach?

It took another ten minutes before Carlisle could answer my wife. I didn't have the nerve to ask my own question.

Carlisle let out a small sigh of relief. "They seem to be moving in complete synchronization."

"They're okay? Our babies are both okay?" I asked, needing to hear him say it.

"Your babies are safe. Both of them." Carlisle confirmed. "They're just in much more perfect synchronization than I have ever seen twins do before. These kids will be very close once they're born. I'm sorry that I scared you guys. It's just so uncommon that I didn't think of it as an option."

"Thank you." Mary and I both said at the same time, relief in our voices. Our babies were going to be okay. I had to keep believing that or I wasn't going to get through the next five months.

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><p>Two months later when we were back for yet another check-up and sonogram, the Doc had nothing but good news to tell us. If we wanted to know it, that was. It was at the part of the pregnancy where genders became distinct on the monitors. We could see what the twins were going to be. Or we could wait and let it be a surprise.<p>

"Are you ready to find out the genders?" Carlisle asked. Mary was five months along and showing quite nicely.

"Yes!" Mary replied automatically, her shirt already pulled up for the sonogram.

"Are you sure about this, honey?" I asked my imprint. We had talked about it a lot and still weren't exactly sure that we wanted to know.

"I think I want to know." Mary said, her voice faltering as she saw the look on my face. "I mean, unless you really don't want to find out. Then I can wait for you. We'll just have to keep it from Edward when Carlisle checks on the boys." Mary was so sure that we were going to have boys. She wanted it, actually. So that they would hopefully take after me and not have to go through what she went through.

"What about the element of surprise?" I asked, knowing how much she wanted to keep her family out of our lives for a little bit. They had started to overwhelm Mary with details about the twins' birth. Not that we minded that they wanted to be involved since my family was just as excited, but the Cullens had a way of overdoing it without meaning to.

"I only like surprises when you give them to me." Mary protested. I couldn't help but laugh at her.

"As opposed to the babies that I gave you...?" I saw the look that left no misinterpretation on my imprint's face. She understood my joke. When she blushed, her cheeks the same color as her eyes, I laughed even harder even though her grandfather was only a few feet from us.

"I thought that I wanted to wait to find out the genders, but I can't stand the suspense anymore, Sammy." The pout on her face made my decision for me. No matter how much I wanted to keep the rest of the family in the dark, I knew that I would do anything to make my imprint happy. "Besides, think about how much easier it will be to set up the nursery if we know the color schemes to work with. And for clothes. And baby names!"

"That's true, sweetie." I said, resigned but happy about the decision. I looked at Carlisle. "We want to know, Doc."

After a quick scan, Carlisle announced, "It looks like you hit the jackpot, kids. You're having a boy _and_ a girl."

"Oh, Mary!" I exclaimed at the same time that my imprint wrapped her arms around me.

We knew what this was: it was our chance. Our one and only chance to have one of each. It was more than we could have hoped for. We would have been happy with whatever genders, but I knew that Mary had wanted a boy so that he could hopefully have a chance to phase and imprint. And I had been a tiny bit partial to a little girl who would grow up to be as strong as her mother, with or without the Pack/vamprism.

* * *

><p>Mary had begun nesting ever since she found out the genders. The nursery would have been put together much sooner had we allowed our families to help out, but Mary and I wanted to do this just the two of us. We tried to keep everything we put in this room as a hand-me-down from our families, but with twins it was a lot harder than we expected. Luckily, I had a set of twins in my family so it was not as difficult as it could have been.<p>

The crib that all of the Uley children had slept in for generations, myself included, was now set up in the right corner of the room for our baby girl. When my twin brothers, Johnny and Jessy, were born, Emily had to purchase a second crib. This newer one, though still used and full of family ties, sat on the other side of the room for our little girl. Each crib contained a quilt that Emily and Esme spent a weekend sewing from scraps of Mary and my old baby clothes.

The set of rocking chairs that the Cullens purchased for Jacob and Nessie when she was pregnant with Mary sat in the middle of the room. Even though they were state-of-the-art, they were still technically hand-me-downs. And they were more than comfortable for staying up all night with the twins.

It was funny how easily the new and the old matched together when they were in this room. It really was like our families were slowly fusing together. It was hard to believe that not even five years ago, this union would have been unheard of: before the imprinting and the changes to the Council, vampires (even ones as harmless as Nessie and Mary) were outcasts. Now I was helping put up the nursery for a Cullen-Black half-vampire carrying a Uley werewolf's child. Our three families were forever intertwined, creating the strongest Pack line I could imagine.

Right now, we were sitting on the rocking chairs and staring at the nearly finished room. We had to purchase a few things, but the dressers, cribs, chairs, and quilts had been family donations. We were discussing names for the twins right now because at six months along, Mary had started bonding immensely with the babies and had gotten fed up this morning with calling them "him" and "her."

"What do you think of Micheal? Or Leo? I kind of like those." I asked, flipping through the baby naming book that Edward had purchased for us. "Ooh, or Caleb. That's a good strong name for a boy."

"I was thinking of naming our boy after our fathers, well, and you of course." Mary blushed, not even eyeing the naming book. I had a feeling that she had the name planned as soon as she found out that we were having a boy. She was too much like her mother and grandmother in that aspect. "Samuel Jacob Uley."

"Isn't that going to get confusing?" I blurted out my first thought.

"How so?" Mary asked, obviously never having gone to a family reunion with the Uleys. For one thing, though only my father and I lived on the Rez, I had two cousins named Samuel in the Makah Reservation and an uncle with it. It was hard enough with two Samuel Uleys on the Rez. Three might be as difficult here as it was in Makah.

"Well, I mean, this baby would be the third Samuel on the reservation and I'd hate to saddle my kid with such an obnoxious name. Samuel is too long of a name unless you are getting yelled at by your mother." I couldn't contain my wry smile. "I always hated it. That's why I go by Sammy and my father goes by Sam. Though I love the idea of you naming him after me and my father, I don't want to have to call him Samuel."

"Well, we could call him SJ for short, then." Mary was eager to compromise, though she seemed to be standing her ground on the actual name of our son. I couldn't tell if this was a personal choice or if her family had guilt tripped her into this.

"This wasn't one of your grandmother's ideas, was it?" I asked, having to be sure that Bella or any of the others hadn't influenced her.

"Of course not." Mary looked offended. "This was my idea. And, _trust me_, my family had their opinions. Rosalie keeps trying to push Charles Alexander, Bella likes Chrispin Carter, and Alice just wished that she could already tell me what our children's names will be. Esme was the only one that didn't seem to have a preference."

"What about your mother?" I asked, knowing that Nessie was just as easy an influence on Mary as the Cullens.

"Momma sided with Esme on it being our decision." Mary said sternly, no lie in her voice. "I'm sure that she'd really appreciate the gesture because she loves my father as much as I do and will understand the honor."

"As long as you're sure..." I started to give in, but she wasn't done yet anyways.

"Please, I think it's really important to keep family ties since this is our one chance. I didn't understand that when I was growing up. I didn't understand why Bella chose such crazy combinations for my mother or why my mother tried to honor her family with my name. But we have one shot with having children and I don't want to waste it. You two are the most important men in my life. Let me do this for you."

"This really means a lot to you?" I questioned.

"More than anything." Mary said stubbornly. "I want our children to know both sides of their family and know that they are of equal importance to us. Besides, who knows what their lives will be like or any chance that they could get to have children themselves. I want to do this final honor for the families that brought us together."

"Fine. Then I get to help pick our daughter's name." Mary looked worried that I wouldn't follow her pattern so I grinned at her. "Don't worry, we'll each get to pick one name from each of our sides, just like with SJ."

"What girl name did you have in mind?" Mary asked, curious about who I would try to honor.

"Mine is an easy choice. Emilia. After my mother Emily." I said, knowing that I didn't even have to look at the baby book. If we were honoring my father, then my mother deserved just as much respect.

"That's really sweet, Sammy." Mary beamed at me.

"What about you?" I asked, teasing her gently. "I know that you've thought about this for a while."

"Nessa." There was a faint blush on her cheeks as she admitted the girl name that she had been trying to keep from me. "For my mother."

"Nessa?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why not just name her Vanessa?"

"You hate it?" Mary's big red eyes were staring at mine, looking like they might fill up with tears. Sometimes I forgot about the pregnancy mood swings because Mary was already super emotional because of her big heart and tender feelings as a teenager.

"No, no, I don't hate it." I said, praying that she wouldn't actually start crying. Her tears caused me physical pain. "I'm just confused as to why we couldn't name her Vanessa and then call her Nessa?"

"Because in order for it to be a tribute, it has to be as close as it can get." She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, her tears stalled in her eyes. "I want to do this right, Sammy. And I am _not_ combining names into one name like my mother got. It's either Nessa or Rennie."

"Nessa Emilia Uley. I like it." I said, actually quite pleased with how our baby girl's name sounded when put together like that. Anything but Rennie. God. That sounded awful.

"It's decided. There's no going back now. You've already agreed." Mary grinned at me, her mood swing over.

A phone rang in the other room and I went to pick it up, leaving Mary in the nursery so she wouldn't have to get up.

"Ilovelovelovethenames! Ohmygosh! Ican'twaittotelleveryonethegoodne ws!" The voice that could only belong to the pixie vampire shrieked into the earpiece.

"Mary, it's for you." I grunted, handing over the retriever to my wife. She was always better at handling the ecstatic psychic than I was. I had no patience for the woman always ruining any surprise that we wanted to keep about the twins from the family. It's not that they wouldn't eventually find out, Mary and I were just trying to enjoy this pregnancy together without anyone else peering over our shoulders. I guess that was too much to ask for.

I went to our bedroom next door and pulled out my cell phone. If the Cullens were about to find out everything, then I figured I'd better inform my side of the family as well.

"Those names are just precious. Nessa and Little Samuel." Mom commented when I called the house. "And I'm honored that you remembered me and your father in the naming process. You didn't have to do that."

"Thank god I won't have to call him Samuel. SJ sounds nice." Dad joked when I reached him on his cell. "Your mother was the one who insisted on carrying on the Samuel Uley name."

And, just in case the Cullen calling-tree hadn't reached the Blacks, I called Nessie as well since I knew that Jacob was on patrol right now.

"Thank you for calling us personally." I could tell that Nessie appreciated that I thought of her as family, there was laughter and pure happiness in her tone. "I love the names, of course. But you know that you don't_ have_ to name them after us, right? I think Mary thinks that might be a requirement."

I laughed. "Yeah, well, don't tell her that. She and I have debated this all morning."

"But you are both happy about the decisions?" Nessie asked. Since my marriage to Mary, Nessie had taken on the role of being my second mother, instead of just a mother-in-law like I was expecting. I hated to admit it, but I loved her almost as much as Emily Uley.

"More than happy." I replied honestly. "Besides, I know that Nessa and SJ will be safe and happy in the Reservation. A different name wouldn't change that so why not honor the people responsible for this bright future."

And I meant it.

* * *

><p>We held the baby shower on December 5th, when Mary was officially seven months along. Carlisle predicted the 5th of January would be Mary's due date since her vamprism wouldn't let her carry past the eight month mark. Everyone was gathered for the baby shower, even though it was typically reserved for women only. We wanted everyone included in this big event. Embry was the only one not here since he volunteered for patrol so the rest of us could come.<p>

As per a usual party, the women ended up in the living room, the men stayed in the kitchen where the food was, and the kids ran in and out of the house.

Other than Blaire Ateara on Tanner's hip, all of the children were currently outside. Peter, Tanner, Jacob, Quil, Jared, even the Cullen men were standing in here with me. It was kind of nerve-racking that they didn't eat, but that just meant that there was more for us. Seth was here, too, but he was in the living room with Maitlin to help make her more comfortable. JJ was in the backyard with my little siblings: Johnny, Jessy, and Sally; and Quincy and Clara Ateara.

"Here you go, kid. It'll be good practice and I need a minute with some adults for a little bit." Leah handed off her six month old daughter to me as she went to the living room with the other women. She kissed the baby's head before she left and I was touched by how soft the shewolf had become since marrying Embry and having his child. Love really did suit her.

Sophia Alana Clearwater-Call was just precious in her little bonnet. I couldn't take my eyes off the little girl, imagining in her place my own daughter in my arms. I jostled Sophia a little bit as I situated her in my arms better but she didn't cry. I couldn't wait to hold Nessa in my arms like this. SJ either, for that matter, but my mind was on my future little girl right now.

"You look like a natural, Sammy." Jacob complimented.

"Do you think that Leah and Embry will let me help babysit Sophia some more before the babies are born?" I asked, looking at my father-in-law. "I mean, I'm sure that any help I can get before they come will help me once they're here."

"You'll have to ask the parents." Jacob said with a shrug.

"I'm sure they wouldn't mind." Quil laughed, nudging Jacob in the ribs. "You've been in Embry's mind lately...Leah's breastfeeding has him so distracted that he couldn't come here today and not make a fool of himself in front of everyone."

I tried not to blush since I myself was a married man with a beautiful wife myself. I understood Embry's urges sometimes. Mary was growing everywhere while carrying the twins. I tried not to think about that with Mary's father standing right next to me. Emmett caught a look on my face, but he just laughed to himself.

"Yeah, I bet _Embry_ wouldn't want to make a fool of himself." Emmett laughed harder at his own implication as I tried not to glare at him.

I was saved from further embarrassment when Mary called us all into the living room to open presents.

Claire, Robin, Diana, Leah, Rebecca, Rachel, Emily, Nessie, Alice, even Kim was reluctantly here, along with the Cullen women. Mary's cousin Sara and my sister Emmie were allowed to be in the room even though they were just thirteen. They thought that they were "grown-ups" now that they were officially teenagers. Maitlin and Seth were on the far couch as included as they could be without actually being a part of the group. The guys took up the space that they could across from their spouses.

"Oh, Alice, this is just precious." Mary said as she held up the no-doubt expensive matching baby sailor suits. The crowd gasped and complimented the purchase in my wife's hands.

"What would the twins need sailor suits for?" I asked, though I had to admit that they were kind of adorable.

"Open our present next." Esme smiled, looking at me when she handed the small envelope to the two of us.

I frowned. Mary had been in charge of opening all of the baby shower gifts. When we opened the envelope, I grinned at the sunshine cartoon wearing sunglasses.

"Plane tickets?" Mary asked, surprised.

"Four of them." Carlisle smiled. "For your new family to take whenever you want. They'll never expire so you can wait until the twins are twenty before you go if you want."

"Thank you guys. Really." I grinned back at them. I had begun to really love the Doc and his wife since they had become Mary's doctor and nurse and I had really gotten to know them.

The rest of the baby shower consisted of matching outfits for the twins, more diapers than I thought I could ever store in our house, and baby bottles galore. Bella got us a set of car seats for my car and Edward got a set for Mary's that way we didn't have to ever switch them out. My mother knitted baby booties for the kids and Nessie worked together with her to learn so that she could knit matching hats for them to go with the booties. Everyone had such thoughtful gifts.

"I don't understand why there's so much of everything. Isn't everyone going overboard on this?" I asked Mary as our seemingly never-ending pile was finally dwindling.

A couple of the mothers laughed, Nessie and my mother included.

"Oh, honey." Leah laughed. "You have no idea."

"Babies are messy." Rachel grinned. Why did these women think it was so funny?

"And you're having twins!" Claire couldn't keep a smile off of her face either.

"That means twice the diapers and twice the spills and twice the spit-ups." Emily spoke up, the only one in the group to have had twins herself.

"You're going to need every single one of those outfits if even one of your kids is like Mary was." Nessie teased her daughter.

"Sammy wasn't exactly a neat baby, either." Sam joined in, his deep voice startling some of the women. Even I had forgotten that the rest of the men were there. The room had been filled with women's voices for too long. Conversation flowed between everyone easily after that.

I looked around the room at the humans, werewolves, and vampires all getting along in the room. Our babies were bringing everyone together in a way that no peace treaty ever would.

* * *

><p>It was New Year's Eve, nearly a week before Mary's due date, and I was taking my wife out for dinner instead of celebrating with our Pack buddies down by the lake or with either of our families. I was taking her out for a calm, relaxing night out of the house. Tonight was about us.<p>

"You know what I was thinking?" I asked my gorgeous wife over dinner at the Forks Cafe.

Since Mary was nearing her eighth month of the pregnancy, her family had become extra clingy. When we weren't at the Cullens', they were over at our house. The few times that we got time to ourselves, we still weren't alone. Jacob didn't want anything to happen to his daughter or grandchildren, so he set up patrols so that Mary was always guarded. All the extra wolf security was probably more annoying than the vamp detail.

"What?" My imprint smiled, looking up from her menu.

"I was just thinking about how we never leave the Reservation anymore. I mean, other than going to Forks to see your family I don't think that we've left the Rez."

"Don't you love living here?" Mary raised an eyebrow. "I mean, I thought you wanted to be a part of the Pack. Is this because you're not the Alpha yet? Because Daddy said that you could take over whenever you wanted to."

"Of course I love living here!" I said quickly. "This is our home. I don't really care about taking over the Pack just yet, you know that, Mary. I was just talking about a change of scenery."

"What did you have in mind, then?" Mary asked, taking a sip of her water glass.

"You know, taking a vacation? Somewhere nice and tropical without all of this dreary rain all of the time. We didn't get much of a honeymoon because we didn't want to do anything except consummate our marriage." I couldn't help but smirk as I thought about all the times that we did during the three day sexcapade locked up in our new house. "I say we use those tickets that Esme and Carlisle got us for Jamaica soon."

"I think it's time." Mary said, looking at me suddenly. "Now!"

"Well, I mean, if you insist." I agreed. "I'm sure that we could wait a few more weeks until the babies are born."

"You don't understand, Sammy." Mary grunted. "It's time!"

"Oh. OH!" I replied, taking in the puddle at her feet as a sign that it really was time. "I'll go call Carlisle!"


	48. My Little Family

At just eight months along, they twins were ready to get out of the womb as soon as they decided they were. My water broke while I was out to dinner with Sammy on New Year's Eve, a full five days before they were due according to Carlisle's predictions. I never thought that they would come so early, which is why I wasn't expecting the sharp pains in my abdomen during the middle of dinner.

The night that my twins were born was the happiest (and most painful) day of my life. Well, days, I should say.

Nessa Emelia Uley was born at 11:59 on New Year's Eve and Samuel Jacob Uley was born 12:01 on New Year's Day.

It had been six months since then and the babies were both still showing no signs of vamprism. My eyes had returned to their natural brown color after their birth and though I was now forever fifty-one percent vampire like my mother and would never phase again, I was happy with how things had turned out. I would have forever with my children just like my mother would always be in my life and her mother would always be with her. I had Sammy and my twins forever. What more could I ask for?

I couldn't tell who was more thrilled at being a parent, me or my imprint. Ever since the twins were born, Sammy couldn't keep that stupid grin off of his face. I loved that he was so in love with our children. He simply adored them. And he was so helpful with them. Unlike a lot of new fathers, Sammy never shied away from changing diapers or getting up in the middle of the night to check up on whichever one of the twins was crying. The twins were six months old now and sleeping through the night better than anyone had expected so Sammy and I would sometimes go to the nursery and watch our precious little darlings sleep.

"We have the most beautiful babies in the world." Sammy boasted proudly.

"That's just because they look just like you." I beamed, holding squirming SJ in my lap while Sammy was helping Nessa with her little sailor dress for our family picture.

We were on the beach taking our family trip that Esme and Carlisle gave us at the baby shower. It took everything in my power to convince my family members not to join us on this little vacation. It was our first family vacation with just the four of us and Sammy and I put out feet down. We promised to take a million pictures for the Cullens, Blacks, and Uleys but they were not invited. The guy taking our picture was a native.

"They are only beautiful because they take after their mother. I think they look more like you!" Sammy argued playfully.

We had this conversation a lot. It was obvious to anyone who saw them that the twins favored my husband. Sure, Nessa had my big brown Swan eyes and curly ringlets, SJ had my smile, and both of the kids had skin that was a darker russett than I had while still remaining pale. But both kids had Sammy's dark brown-nearly black hair color and SJ had his father's dark brown eyes. The twins had Sammy's little ears and slightly large nose, as well as the swoop of his chin.

They looked like they were Quileute natives. Which they were. My father, my husband, and I had all been born on tribal soil. And now my children would have absolutely no denying their heritage now. They were second generation from vampire and werewolf blood and the tribe had come to accept me, they no doubt would be able to accept my children.

My children would have a better life than I had.

Well, maybe not better but easier since looking back on my life, I realized that I didn't actually have it that bad. Sure, I was an outcast for awhile and had to move around a lot so that humans wouldn't realize that I was different once I started phasing. And then when I moved back to the Reservation, I was rejected at first but the natives came to accept me because of my father and imprint's fierce determination to make me feel welcome.

I was just glad that my children wouldn't have to deal with any of the prejudices that I had to go through.

"Say 'queso!'" The cameraman said, bringing me out of my thoughts and back into the present.

Sammy wrapped his arm tighter around me and I smiled for the man taking our family picture. SJ seemed to know what was going on and sat up the tiniest bit straighter in my lap and even Nessa giggled when Sammy said "cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessse" dramatically.

Yup, my little family was all that I needed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: This story is wrapping up. I'm either going to do a long epilogue about the twins' lives or do another story staring the twins' POVs so that I'm not leaving you guys completely hanging.<strong>


	49. Looking Back

Epilogue: Twenty Years Later

Let me start by saying that most parents think that their children are the most special individuals in the entire world. But, for me, the statement is really true.

We assumed that they would either 1) phase like I did and turn into a vampire whenever they got angry, starting at the age of seven until they were fourteen and would slowly start changing into a permanent half-vampire or 2) phase like Sammy did when he was around fourteen and become a wolf who would stay young as long as they kept phasing like the rest of the Pack. The only other option that we foresaw was that they would stay human their entire lives and die at an old age like the rest of our family.

As the twins grew, they exceeded all of our expectations.

The first time Nessa phased, the twins were seven years old.

_"Momma! Look at me!" Nessa smiled down at me from the tree she was hanging off of and enjoying our time together. We were having a girls day since Sammy had taken SJ to the doctor's office. So far, the children showed no signs of vamprism and if they were going to phase, they would remain fully human until they burst into a giant wolf in their teens._

_"Get out of that tree, young lady." I said half-heartedly. _

_Nessa had always been very physically active. Not that SJ hadn't, but Nessa was a little gymnast: always climbing things or doing cartwheels or showing off her agility anyway that she could. Sammy and I had enrolled Nessa in gymnastics as soon as she showed such interest. Her instructor thought that she showed promise of going to the Olympics in nine years when she turned sixteen.  
><em>

_But when I looked back at my daughter, a gasp escaped my lips. Nessa's big brown Swan-colored eyes were the color of blood. _

_My first thought was: 'So much for her Olympic career; a vampire couldn't compete.' _

_My second thought was: 'At least my daughter will be with us forever.' _

_I guess that I should have been more worried about Nessa's safety, but I just couldn't fear for her when I had gone through exactly what she was experiencing right now. It was better than what my mother had to go through with me. Renesmee had no idea what was going on with me or when I would stop phasing or if I would live forever. With Nessa, I knew for sure. _

_"Momma, what's wrong with me?" Nessa asked, finally feeling the enhanced senses of her new phasing vampire status. She let out a whimper as the overwhelming senses freaked her out. Without meaning to, Nessa jumped from the tree branch and landed vampire-gracefully onto the grass beside me. _

_"Nothing is wrong with you." I said calmly, pulling her closer to me. "Your father and I talked to you and SJ about this possibility for the past few years." _

_"I'm like you now?" Nessa asked, putting two-and-two together. _

_"Yes, baby, you're like me." I admitted. "Like how I used to be when I was growing up. You will be able to phase into a Newborn vampire whenever you want to or, and this is usually the case, whenever you get really angry. Don't worry, Nessa, I'll help you through all of this. And when the time comes and you become a half vampire, I'll help you deal with that, too. You have nothing to be afraid of." _

_"I'm not afraid." Nessa said, looking every bit as young as her age. "I just wish that I had been normal like SJ." _

_"Normal?" I asked. "Honey, what's normal in this family?" _

_"He gets to be human!" Nessa complained._

_"Nessa, we don't know what SJ will turn out to be." I said calmly. "He could phase tomorrow and be just like you. Or he could end up like your father and join the Pack one day. With my DNA and your father's, SJ's chances of staying human are very slim, honey." _

_"I just want to be normal." Though she had never been a brat, she was whining like one now. "I have to drop out of school like you did. I like my friends. I like this school. I don't want to quit gymnastics. I want to be normal!" _

_"Oh, honey. You won't have to quit school." I laughed. "That's one of the best things about living on the Reservation; everyone knows about what we are. You can choose to stay in your current grade or advance as your physical age does, which as long as you maintain your temper shouldn't be that much more advanced than your actual age." _

_"What about gymnastics?" Nessa asked, seeming to perk up a little bit at the prospect of getting to stay in school. I knew her best friend Sophia Clearwater-Call would be excited that she wasn't going to leave La Push Elementary. SJ, Nessa, and Sophia were the tightest group of friends. Though there were other kids at the school, Sophia was the only one that either of the twins cared about that much. _

_"That might be more difficult." I said sadly. "Your gym team isn't a bunch of kids from the Rez. They don't know about vampires or wolves." _

_"Please, Momma?" Nessa would have been crying if she hadn't been phased. "I don't want to quit. I promise I'll be good. I won't hurt anybody. I won't even phase! I'll be really good. Please Momma?" _

_"Oh, baby, it's not about being good. It's hard to control your natural instincts sometimes. Trust me, I know." I said, wishing that I could promise her something more._

_"I'm not quitting gymnastics until I phase in front of a human." Nessa said stubbornly. "I can control myself, Momma. Please let me try to fit in." _

_I only wanted to fit in when I was a child. I knew how much it meant to her because I had been there. Looking back on my own life, I had only phased a handful of times before I was thirteen. There was no way of knowing if Nessa would be like I was, but that was the difficulty with being the mother of a phasing vampire daughter. Every decision mattered to the human world around us. Would keeping her out of the sport that she loves so much injure her self-esteem more than keeping her in would potentially hurt __one of her friends? _

_"I'll have to talk to your father about this." I said and Nessa just grinned. _

_She and I both knew that she had Sammy wrapped around her tiny little finger. Nessa was a "Daddy's girl" and SJ was a "Momma's boy" so far, though, with Nessa taking after me now I think that she would start to become closer to me as the years progressed and she wanted a hunting buddy._

_"I love you, Momma." Nessa said, her black curls nearly covering her crimson eyes. She looked so much more like me in that moment than I had ever seen in one of my children since they had taken after Sammy a lot. I smiled, never feeling closer to my daughter than in that moment._

For the next few years, Nessa did her best to not phase vampire. She slipped up a time or two (nearly scared the crap out of her best friend Sophia Clearwater-Call when her eyes shone red for the whole tribe to see at recess in the fourth grade play), but she managed much better than I had. Nessa aged the same as her brother and continued to be on the gymnastics team like she wanted. I admired her restraint, though the few times that she did phase, I loved the time we spent together hunting.

Even when she wasn't phased vamp, Nessa seemed to draw closer to me. Just the fact that she felt like I was the only one she could talk to made me happy. I know it shouldn't have. But I was selfish. I loved that my daughter and I had a special connection. With the twins looking so much like Sammy, I felt self-conscious that maybe they wouldn't care about me as much. It was silly and stupid and childish, but I couldn't help it. I loved that Nessa wanted to get my help with things.

Sammy, of course, understood my desire to be closer to our children. It was a mother's goal to bond with her young, an instinct that I couldn't control. Just like with imprinting, I was overwhelmed with love for my babies even though they could no longer be considered babies. I was a Momma-bear who loved her cubs. I would die for them, I knew that much.

I just hated that they were growing up so quickly. I knew that it was as long as normal human mothers got with their children before they were adults, but I couldn't settle for eighteen years of watching them changing and growing right before my eyes. I also knew that once they stopped aging (assuming that SJ would eventually phase wolf), that I would have forever with them. Even that wasn't enough. I loved them that much.

They were just growing up too fast!

The first time that SJ phased, the twins were fourteen.

My son wasn't the only one that phased that day...because that was the first time since I was a teenager that the Volturi came to visit the Cullens again.

The New Volturi, that is.

When I was fourteen and the Volturi came to visit Aunt Rose, I was terrified for my family's safety. Now, when Aunt Alice had a prediction about them coming, I wasn't scared in the slightest. Though they still have all of the power, they don't abuse it like they did under Aro's leadership. Marcus, along with Vladimir and Stefan, are no longer a threat to the Cullens; the New Volturi was simply checking in on our progress.

Since the meeting was about checking up on the Cullen-clan after they visited Carlisle and Esme, they came to see my mother. We met the New Volturi at the border of the Forks/La Push boundries: Jacob, Nessie, Sammy, SJ, Nessa, and me.

The New Volturi seemed friendly, though they were clear that they were making sure that we haven't been creating an army with the wolves or more vampire children like Aunt Rose had tried to with Gemma oh-so-long ago. Rosalie had learned her lesson, though I knew that she still yearned for a child of her own. She was still in mourning over the loss of Gemma but I figured that in another sixty years or so she would eventually try again. I just hoped that the Volturi wouldn't find a fault in Rose's next creation.

They were surprised to find that I had reproduced. I think that if Aro had been around, he would have tried to kidnap me again or worse! tried to kidnap my twins to see if they would behave the same way that I did. But luckily Aro was dead and could no longer be a threat to my family.

SJ and Nessa were on their best behavior. Nessa didn't turn vamp, her eyes still brown, and SJ was still human...until Vladimir made an accidental insult towards the Pack and almost started a war.

_"Don't you ever insult my family like that again." SJ growled, showing more aggression than I had ever seen in him. His hands were shaking with the tremors of a new wolf._

_"I mean no insult, young Uley." Vladimir tried to breeze it off, clearly not understanding how short a wolf's temper was...especially a new wolf._

_"SJ, calm down." Jacob said, his Alpha tone making it clear that this was not an option. Though he couldn't actually stop my son if he was going to phase for the first time, he could try to make this not turn into a fight. A newly phased wolf around three ancient vampires was bad with a capital B. _

_"I'm sorry, Gramps." SJ said, shaking his head. "I can't stop this." _

_And, just like that, my gangly teenage son was a giant wolf (though smaller than both my father and imprint). His dark hair was now jet black fur (a shade darker than Sammy's), but his coal eyes were the same even in his transformed body. He didn't look fearful to be in his new body like wolves of the last generation were. He was just angry. _

_Samuel Jacob let out a growl, his voice shocking the New Volturi._

_"Remarkable." Marcus said. "To see this transformation in person. Well, I never thought that I'd see it myself."_

_"Such strange creatures, indeed." Vladimir commented, only furthering to insult SJ's temper. _

That was also the first time that Nessa phased as a wolf, too.

_When her twin phased, she instinctively felt the shift with their weird twin-telepathy and within moments of SJ's phase, Nessa landed on her own set of giant paws. Her fur was a rich russet color like her grandfather's. She was smaller than most of the guys in the Pack but still larger than Leah. _

_"A she-wolf? Is that even possible?" Stefan asked, speaking up for the first time._

_But I wasn't concerned with what the others replied to him. I was locked in on my daughter. __My phasing vampire daughter had the ability to phase wolf, too? How was THAT even possible? We weren't prepared for that option. They would phase one way or the other, not both. I didn't know how to handle this. Did that mean that SJ had that option, as well? I didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad one. _

_The look of fear in her deep dark brown eyes terrified me. She looked so scared that I just wanted to comfort her. But when I took a step towards her, my vampire scent freaked her out and she backed away from me. My own daughter was afraid of me. _

_Since I could no longer phase with the Pack (what with being half vampire all of the time like my mother), Sammy and Jacob phased to try to calm the twins down. They went into the woods on the La Push side of the border. I could see the heads of a few other wolves in the treeline and knew that _

_My mother and I stayed and talked to the New Volturi until we could convince them to leave and go back to Italy, assuring them that the twins were fine and that this was normal. They had wolf blood in them. I was glad that my mother didn't mention the fact that Nessa could also phase vampire like I used to. Even though we didn't fear the New Volturi as much as we did the old ones, there was still no reason to trust them completely with a secret this powerful. Who knows what our enemies would do if they found out about it? _

_When my imprint returned, no longer in wolf form, he assured me that our kids were going to be fine but it might take a while to get them to phase back. I was happy but sad at the same time. It was hard to see my husband being the only one of us that was able to help them. I had always taken comfort in the fact that Nessa was like me and would always need to rely on my expertise. I was losing her...and I was helpless to stop it. _

We found out later that both children had the ability to phase into a vampire or a wolf. They can't entirely chose which one is going to happen, but sometimes there are subtle signs that let us know which one will be the version of phasing that the twins do. Nessa is partial to phasing vampire since she has slightly more of my genetics and SJ is a tiny bit more like Sammy so he typically would phase wolf.

Our children really were special. Much more than even I was. They were a new breed: wolf/vampire hybrids that could phase either way. If the old tribal council was still in tact, they would have been outraged to find this out.

As different as they were from the rest of the Pack, they were accepted fully by all of the members. And, most importantly, they were loved. It wasn't because of who their parents were like I always assumed was the case with me. SJ and Nessa were really truly loved by the tribe which was exactly what any mother could ask for her children. I just wanted them to find love...and they did.

SJ imprinted when the twins were almost fifteen, two months after their first phase wolf.

_I was sitting at the table with my parents and my husband when our world changed again. They came to visit their grandchildren all of the time since we lived within walking distance of each other. Jacob helped Sammy with Pack responsibilities, since my father was stepping down from Pack business for good in a few months and wanted to show my husband the ropes of running the Council. They were in a heavy conversation about it when SJ flew into the room. _

_"Say hello to your grandparents." I said, reaching out for SJ's arm before he could slip past us and into his room. _

_"Hello." SJ replied automatically, the word looking like it took all of his effort to say. _

_"Calm down, son. You look like you've seen a ghost." Sammy joked, taking in the panic in our teenage boy's eyes. SJ really did look like he had been startled so much that it pained him. _

_"She's going to kill me." SJ muttered._

_"SJ! GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!" Nessa screamed from the front yard, her voice getting louder as she got closer to the front door. _

_"Your sister is mad at you?" Nessie asked in disbelief. The twins had always been so in-sync that it was hard to think of them ever having troubles with each other. _

_"What happened, sweetie?" I asked, hoping that he would tell his side of the story before either of the twins phased in their anger. Well, mostly I was worried that Nessa would. My daughter had her father's temper and when she was phased vamp it was harder to control her. _

_SJ nodded miserably. "I couldn't help it..."_

_"Couldn't help what?" Sammy asked, equally concerned. "What did you do?" _

_"Sophia came back today and we were all going to hang out like we usually do but then as soon as Sophia got there..." The ghost-look was off of his face, a scared grin on his face instead. "I couldn't help it, really I couldn't...I just didn't think it would be this strong...I probably shouldn't have kissed her, I just didn't know what to do." _

_"You kissed Sophia?" I asked, my jaw dropping. All of us knew about SJ's little crush on the Clearwater-Call girl, even Leah thought it was kind of funny, but I didn't expect him to tell her about it so soon. They were barely fifteen. _

_"How long has Sophia been staying with the Young relatives in Makah?" Jacob asked, his eyes drawn together as he thought something that the rest of us were missing. _

_"Two months." I replied for SJ. "She's been there all winter." _

_"Anything else happen two months ago?" Jacob asked, but the question wasn't for me. He was looking at his grandson. _

_"You weren't phasing when she left..." Nessie said, getting it as quickly as her husband meant us to. _

_"Oh, honey, you imprinted!" I said, throwing my hands around my son's shoulders. Since he started phasing, he shot past me in height so it was a little awkward. _

_"Don't hug him!" Nessa hissed. I had to look and make sure her eyes were still brown. They were. _

_"I know you're upset that your brother imprinted on your best friend, but this is a good thing." I said, trying to calm my daughter. _

_"It's not about that!" Nessa was still angry, though her fists weren't shaking so I knew there was a very slim chance that she'd phase in the kitchen. _

_"What_ is_ it about?" Sammy asked, unintentionally using his Alpha tone._

_"I'm mad that you stole Sophia's first kiss from her." Nessa was yelling at her twin. "You ruined it for her with your stupid ambush! Do you know how long she had been planning the perfect first kiss? She might be our imprint, but she was still our best friend and now you ruined our friendship with that stupid kiss. She's never going to forgive us. She won't even speak to us." _

_It always amazed me when my children referred to themselves in the plural even though they only meant one of them. Carlisle was right when he predicted that the children would be super close growing up. Just like in the womb with synchronized heartbeats, they often did things like this. _

_"I can fix this. I have to." SJ looked like he might cry. "I can't have her hating me. Or you, for that matter." _

_"Go talk to Sophia and then we'll see about me forgiving you." Nessa hissed and SJ fled back out the way he had come. _

_When he returned twenty minutes later, he had a grin on his face and Sophia at his heel. _

_"Welcome to the family, Sophia." Sammy greeted the young ones, making our future daughter-in-law blush. _

I watched their love bloom over the next four years until it was hard for them to contain themselves anymore.

Leah and Embry were happy for our children's imprint relationship as much as Sammy and I were. I thought that Leah might be upset at first, but she explained to me one day that now she knew her daughter would never have to go through what she felt with Embry every day. Though Embry never imprinted and probably never would, in the back of her mind, Leah always wondered if today would be the day that she lost her husband to another woman. Sophia would never have to deal with that with SJ.

The only other person that I worried about with SJ's imprint was my daughter. Nessa was a permanent third-wheel with the two of them, but SJ and Sophia didn't act couple-y unless they thought they were alone. They valued Nessa's feelings too much to do something like that in front of them. Other than the first ambush-attack kiss, I don't think that Nessa had seen them kiss once. I saw them once or twice, but it was usually to check that they weren't making me a grandmother yet. To my relief, SJ was as respectful to Sophia as Sammy had been to me.

She put up a good front, but I thought that my daughter was never going to be truly happy with the situation: always the third-wheel with an imprinted couple, one of which was her brother. Until SJ and Sophia's wedding day, that is.

The twins were eighteen when SJ married his imprint.

_"Sophia Alana Clearwater-Call, do you take Samuel Jacob Cullen-Black to be your lawfully wedded husband?" As per usual, Carlisle conducted the ceremony. All of the Cullens were back on tribe land for this wedding event, and this time there wasn't even a fuss. _

_"I do." Sophia's eyes, the ones that looked so much like her mother's, sparkled with the glint of happy tears as she dedicated herself to her imprinter. _

__"____Samuel Jacob Cullen-Black____, do you take ____Sophia Alana Clearwater-Call____ to be your lawfully wedded wife?"__

__"I do." SJ said with such conviction that he nearly growled. You could hear the 'mine' clearly in his tone. Most wolves sounded like that when they were pledging their lives to their imprints.__

__"You may now-" Carlisle began, interrupted by SJ intensely capturing Sophia's lips with his. The crowd let out a joint laugh. "-kiss the bride." __

_With their union, four tribal families were forever intertwined. Their children, if they ever had any, would be such strong wolves that I wasn't sure the world was ready for it. _

_The only sad thought about their union was that I knew I couldn't have my son with me forever. Despite being a phasing vampire/wolf, he would give it all up for his human wife and imprint. Unless he bite her while he was phased vamp, there was no chance that Sophia would live as long as the rest of us would. I wished for a selfish second that Sophia had taken after her mother in the phasing gene but knew that this was how it was supposed to be. _

_This was a day of rejoicing, not of sadness. _

That was also the day that Nessa found her own soul-mate.

_"Hey, Nessa, there's someone that I want you to meet." Alice said, dragging my daughter away from me. _

_"Alice, get back here. I do not want you setting up my baby!" I said, though I knew that it was a mute point. _

_Alice had made Nessa her project and was constantly introducing her to any stray nomad that she could since she knew that Nessa had too much of a temper to be with a normal human. Alice was hoping that a vampire or hybrid would make a suitable mate. I think secretly, Alice was trying to steer at least one of her female relatives away from a wolf mate._

_I followed behind my aunt and daughter, like I usually did when this happened. The guys were nice, but typically red-eyed nomads who were not interested in my mostly human/sometimes Newborn vampire/sometimes furry wolf daughter. I hated letting Alice put Nessa through this since it always made her sad for the next few days when she realized that there were even more guys in the world who didn't want to love her for who she was. _

_But, for the first time, when I saw Nessa shake hands with the man across from her, there was a huge grin on her face. He was tall, dark haired, and had dimples on his tan cheeks, though from back here I couldn't see the color of his eyes. He was handsome, I had to admit. And, from where I was standing, they looked good together. When Nessa reached over and touched the man's arm as she let out a flirty laugh, I pulled Alice aside and let the two of them be by themselves. _

_"Who is that?" I asked, a slight grin on my face. "Where did you find this one?" _

_"His name is Noah Rivers. I ran into him in a vision I had." Alice knew that she had done well. "Only, I saw what you're seeing now: Nessa flirting with him." _

_"How old is he?" I asked. "Dare I ask?" _

_"Oh, calm down, Mary." Alice laughed. "He's not much older than Nessa. He was born twenty-three years ago and stopped aging sixteen years ago." _

_"He's a half-vampire?" I asked, not believing it. The half-vampire breed was so rare. I hadn't met any that weren't Nahuel's sisters or my mother. _

_"Blue eyes not enough proof?" Alice rolled her eyes. "He never knew who his father was or his mother, for that matter. Unlike Nahuel who Changed his aunt, Noah was on his own until I went in search of him. I gave him a book of names and he finally had something to call himself after twenty three years on Earth. Luckily, his mother had gone to an abandoned cottage to give birth, not knowing what fate had in store for her, so he lived so deep in the jungle that he didn't even know that anyone else existed and he was forced to live off of animal blood and meat. He has remarkable restraint around this many humans, don't you think?" _

_My response got stuck in my throat as my daughter came over to us, her fingers intertwined with Noah's. _

_"Hey, mom, this is Noah." Nessa's grin was what made me put my guard down. _

_"Hello, Noah. I'm very glad to meet you." I said, extending my hand to the man that I knew my daughter now could not live without. _

It wasn't imprinting, but it was definitely love for Nessa. From that moment on, the two were inseparable. She helped Noah with his English and got him adjusted to life with so many humans everywhere. She taught him to drive a car, to fish with a net, and to tie a tie. Anything that he needed help with or didn't understand, she was willing to help him with it. She was always patient with Noah because she wanted him to succeed.

It took two years for him to understand what marriage was or why it was so important to Nessa, but he finally popped the question. It was a little gesture for him since he hadn't been raised in this society, but he loved Nessa as much as she loved him and I knew he was only doing it to make her happy. In Noah's eyes, Nessa and he already belonged to each other.

The twins were twenty when Nessa married her soul mate and SJ's imprint had their first child.

I don't know what the rest of our lives have in store for us, but I do know that we will always be a loving family. My children brought me more happiness in the last twenty years than anything in my childhood did.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thank you all for sticking with this story and leaving me your feedback. I hope you grew to love Mary Black as much as I did. <strong>


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